The Darkness Beyond
by chocolate-moosey
Summary: As Mint deals with demons of her past, a malicious spirit attempts to take control of her. Ichigo finds herself slowly falling in love all over again.
1. Keep Looking Foreword

**"The Darkness Beyond"**

**By Chocolate Wolfie **

Note: I'm not finished with reading the Manga, nor have I seen the Anime (yet. I have it in the mail). I know that Mint's Grandma said that Mint's parents were away in another country, but if you keep reading, I will explain more on that, this is why they call it a Fan**_fiction_**. Also, Ringo (who comes in later in the story) is a character that appeared only in the videogame, and Berry only showed up in Tokyo Mew Mew A la Mode. I'm basing their personalities off of what information that I've read. This takes place a year after Tokyo Mew Mew a La Mode, so Ichigo, Lettuce, and Mint are 13; Purin, Berry, and Ringo are 12; and Zakuro, Ryou are 17. Akasaka is 23. According to the Anime, Zakuro is very religious, so I don't mean to offend anybody, I'm just trying to fit her character. Thanks!

Name Translations (For those who watch the dub):

Ichigo: Zoey

Mint: Corina

Lettuce: Bridget

Purin: Ki-Ki

Zakuro: Rene

Ryou: Elliot

Akasaka: Wesley

Aoyama/Masaya: Mark

Onee-(chan)(sama)/nee-chan: This is a term of endearment the girls use for the girls in the group that are older than them, It means "Older Sister", even though they are not sisters, its just a polite way to address friends that are older than you.

**Chapter 1**

**Keep Looking Foreword **

Three young girls trotted down a street. The only light came from that of an old house and a flickering street lamp.

"I can't believe we actually managed to sneak out!" Sniggered the first girl.

"It'll be even more of a miracle if we can sneak into that night club." Nodded the second as they continued along.

"Oh! Oh! Want to hear a story about this neighborhood?" The third girl suggested.

"As long as its not scary... this is a pretty bad area..." The second girl shuddered.

"Its scary, but... oh! I just gotta tell you!" Squealed the third.

"Go on and tell." Nodded the first.

"'Kay, it was about eight years ago. The famous couple- Aizawa, I think it was- was on their was to a party. Suddenly, their car started having problems, so they pulled over to look at it. While the husband was looking under the hood, the wife saw a young girl over by a creek- crying. Nobody knows what happened after that." The third girl's face darkened considerably, "They say that they found them the next morning on the banks of the creek, stabbed to death. Not far away, they found a body of a girl, and that's not all," The girl glanced to her friends, "The girl's body was in horrible shape. It looked as if she hadn't eaten or slept for days. There were scratches and cuts all over her and she had even peed herself. It was like she had just kept walking and walking and walking for Kami-sama god knows how long."

There was a long silence- and the two others burst out laughing.

"Yeah right!" Giggled the first, "How do we know that they saw the girl crying if they were stabbed to death by her?"

"And do creeks even have banks?" Smiled the second.

"Yes they do! I think..." The third girl muttered the last part, "Look! Its true! I their daughter goes to my school- I asked her if it was true and she just snubbed me! If she didn't reply, it has to be true!"

"Baka idiot," Grumbled the second, "That's just an... urban... myth..." Her eyes slowly widened as she stared at a small, woodsy area just beyond the flickering light of the lamp post. What small amount of light did reach it revealed a small silhouette by a ditch that ran through the wooded area. The sound that met their ears was the unmistakable sound of water trickling-

and just beyond it, tiny, muffled cries.

"Oh, Kamis above!" Whispered the girl.

"I-it may just be a trick of the mind- ignore it." Said the first as she rushed up the street, "Come on, girls! Let's get... Yuki-chan?"

The first and second girls stared back to the third girl, who stood as still as a rail, her black hair blowing over her dewy brown eyes in the soft wind.

"Yuki-chan? Daijobu?" Whispered the second girl. She slowly approached the third girl, Yuki, and reached out her hand.

Yuki wheeled around, tears in her eyes, which had unmistakably turned a shade of slate gray.

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"A missing girl?" Ichigo asked as she and the other girls leaned in to look at the picture.

"Yes." Nodded Ryou, "Yokohama Yuki. Age 14, five foot, brown eyes, black hair. She attends the same school as you, Mint."

Mint nodded, recalling a past incident with the girl, whom she had instantly recognized from the photo.

"What happened? Where did she go missing?" Berry asked, her deep-amber eyes shimmering with worry.

"Last night, at roughly none forty-five PM, her two friends, a Shinju Emiko and Momo Natsu, made a frantic phone call to the police. They had snuck out to go to a dance club, and supposedly had seen a girl crying at a creek. Then their friend had looked at the girl, her eyes went pale, and she- just disappeared. Out of thin air." Akasaka read from a news report.

"A girl crying at a creek..." Mint repeated so softly that the only person that had caught it was Zakuro, "Tell me- where were they?"

"A small suburbia- about a twenty minute drive from here." Akasaka explained.

"Kind of a shitty neighborhood if you ask me." Ryou sniffed.

"Ryou-kun!" Lettuce gasped as Mint suddenly became very interested in her fingers.

"What do you think this could be?" Zakuro asked.

"I've heard of an old myth about a couple getting killed by a ghost! Na no da!" Purin exclaimed.

Silence.

"G-ghost!" Ichigo stammered loudly, hiding behind Berry, "I don't wanna go! Not if there's a ghost!"

"Quit being such a baby!" Ryou scolded.

"We have to go! Its our job as Tokyo Mew Mew! You know the motto 'At Your Service, Nya!'." Berry recited with a catty pose.

"Nooooo!" Wailed Ichigo, "Don't make me gooooo!"

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"Onigai please, don't make me go!" Mew Ichigo wined as she clawed desperately at the asphalt. The other girls walked along casually as Mew Mint dragged the pink haired neko-girl cat girl by the tail.

"Ah! We were wondering when the infamous Tokyo Mew Mew was going to arrive!" A man dressed in a black suit said as he clapped his hands, a herd of people ran to the edge of the bright yellow crime scene tape as the girls climbed under or over over it, Mew Purin leaping, and landing, facing the crowd, with a "Na no da!"

"We were going to let you handle it, but it seems as if the police are incapable, yet again." Zakuro said as she rested a hand on her hip.

"So what do we have here?" Mew Berry asked as she approached the banks of the creek with a rustle of her pale orange skirts. The girl gasped and turned away in disgust.

"IS IT A GHOST!" Ichigo screamed.

"I think I'm goanna be si- siii-" Mew Berry interrupted herself with a gagging, coughing fit; her frame trembling. Mew Zakuro calmly approached her.

"Squat down and put your head between your legs- that's a girl." Zakuro nodded as the girl's blonde hair flopped down to the ground over her white ears.

"Mew Berry, what did you see?" Mew Lettuce asked intently, ribbons of white flesh flying behind her green lox. Berry simply shook her head.

"HOLY RAMEN! ITS A BODY!" Mew Purin screamed, her eyes wide.

Zakuro, Lettuce, and Mint approached, Ichigo peeking over Mint's shoulder, and gasped.

The corpse itself looked as if it had run itself into the ground- literally. Cuts and scrapes littered its arms, dirt was caked all over its body and in its hair. Its hand limply ran in the stream.

But worst of all, was the fact that its eyes had been gouged out.

"Who would do such a terrible thing?" Gasped Mew Lettuce, putting her hand over her mouth as warm tears rolled down her cheeks.

"_She_ would." Mint whispered, and once more, only Zakuro caught her voice. Mint turned on her heel and headed away from the group. Zakuro stared at her as she went, and silently followed. Mint quietly found a patch of grass under the shade of a low tree and picked up a Dandelion. She took the small weed and put it to her lips, gently blowing. The seeds slowly floated through the air twirling up into the low branches where Zakuro had rested her arms.

"Mint. Is there something you would like to say?" Zakuro said softly, watching the white seeds float about.

Mint shook her head as she twirled the bare stem in between her gloved fingers.

"I understand." Zakuro said softly. Mint stared at the stem until she finally but her hand down on her lap, turning around.

"Onee-sama-" But it was too late, Zakuro had already left.

At the crime scene tape, a woman was sobbing as her husband put his arms around her.

"Oji-san sir! Oji-san! Is it true that it was your daughter's body found by the creek?" A reporter yelled.

"Oba-san ma'am! How do you feel about loosing your child?" Another reporter cried. The woman simply let out a long, hysteric sob.

"Let them be." A commanding voice said as Zakuro walked up to the couple, her pastel violet hair blowing in the summer breeze.

"Mew Zakuro! Mew Zakuro! Has they body been identified? Are there any clues?" Reporters began to ask at random. Zakuro put her arms around the woman and lead her and the man off.

"Onigai, try to stop crying, it will only provoke them." Mew Zakuro said gently to the woman as soon as they were in the wooded area.

"Gomen nasai I'm so sorry!" Sobbed the woman, "I- I- oh! Its so terrible! She was only fourteen, my little Yuki-chan!"

"So that's your daughter's body in the woods?" Zakuro asked as she leaned against the tree.

"No! Not that we know of! Her friends said that- that she just disappeared!" Stammered the man.

"Onigai! You'll save her, right?" The woman asked hysterically.

"I can't make any promises, but we'll do our best to save her." Zakuro nodded, "I'll say a special prayer for her."

"Arigato thank you, Mew Zakuro-san. Arigato." Said the man with a bow, tearing up as well; Zakuro briefly bowed before returning to the group.

"So, did you find anything?" She asked.

"No." Ichigo shook her head, looking grave, "We started to search the area, but we found nothing. There was only one set of footprints in the mud, and they were the girl's. But- but-"

"But you can't help but feel there's something more to the situation than that?" Zakuro asked as she watched policemen carry the body away, covered by a white blanket.

Ichigo nodded, looking to the ground.

"That poor girl." Lettuce whispered, wiping tears from her eyes as Purin clung to her around the waist. The blonde seemed to have lost her usual cheer.

"What about you?" Ichigo asked.

Zakuro glanced at Mint as she walked Berry out from the woods. Berry was still trembling, tears rolling down her cheeks. Mint was looking downwards, a blank expression on her face.

"Nothing." Zakuro stated, and then approached Mint and Berry "How are you, Berry-san?"

"I-I'm..." Berry stammered, "I'm shocked. I never knew someone could do something so cruel to a living being..."

"None of us did." Lettuce nodded.

"She has passed on." Zakuro said gravely, "The only thing we can do now is to pray for her safe arrival into heaven. Her life was hard and painful, she has been eased of the pain and is now in a better place, in the arms of her lord."

The girls stood in a circle, looking to the ground, then, Purin clasped her hands, semi-gloved in goldenrod, looked to the sky and spoke:

"Mama, please, take good care of her up in heaven. Make her your special banana pancakes and give her hugs from all of us, ne?"

The rest of Tokyo Mew Mew all nodded in silent agreement as they quietly headed out to leave.

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"_Amazing grace, how sweet, the sound..._" The nun's fluidic voice echoed through the church, empty, save for her and Zakuro.

Quietly, the young woman knelt at the base of a small candle-lighting alter and pressed a red button below a candle, a tiny, golden flame sparked to life on top of it before Zakuro put a small donation into a wooden box.

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the lord is with thee, blessed art thou, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, prey for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen." Zakuro recited with her hands clasped before her, "Dear lord, please bless the girl who had passed on and safely deliver her to Heaven, please also protect and watch over Yuki-san and help us bring her offender to justice and find her out of harm's way. Amen."

"_...was blind, but now, I see..._" The nun's voice ended on a silvery note which sent shivers up Zakuro's spine. The young woman gathered herself up and went to leave as the nun approached her.

"Young Miss, I couldn't help but hear your voice. It is very deep and rich. I was wondering if you may want to join choir..." The nun began.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I can't. I already have a higher calling." Zakuro bowed to the woman, who smiled and bowed back.

"Ah, yes. I know we all do. I give you my prayers to find the missing girl." She nodded.

Zakuro watched the nun as she walked off gracefully, her voice ringing through the halls, this time, carrying a hopeful tune.

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Ichigo stretched as she headed up the stairs towards Ryou's apartment. She held Lettuce's rich green uniform in hand. Yet again, the girl had managed to spill something (this time, cherry pie) all over her, and once more, it was Ichigo's job to badger Ryou for the money to get it dry cleaned. The teen reached for the door handle and then stopped with a drop of sweat.

'_Remember what happened last time you went in without knocking?_' The good Ichigo in her head asked.

'_Yeah, better not knock!_' The evil Ichigo replied. Ichigo blushed at her own perverseness and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Ryou's muffled voice cried.

"You better have a shirt on!" Ichigo cried as she pushed open the door.

"No, I'm naked." Ryou said as she walked in, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Ichigo was relieved (and at the same time, a little bit disappointed) to see Ryou, fully clothed, hovering over him laptop.

"Lettuce needs her uniform dry-cleaned again." Said the redhead, holding up the girl's uniform.

"She can get it cleaned herself." Ryou grunted.

"Gee, arigato. You're the nicest person I know." Ichigo huffed as she plopped down on his bed.

"Hey! What're you doing?" Ryou snapped.

"Nothing, just wiping my boogers all over it..." Ichigo said as she rubbed her face into the pillow.

"Quit it!" Ryou demanded.

"And getting my cooties all over it..." Giggled the girl was she flopped about the bed.

"Get off of my bed, Ichigo!" Yelled the blonde.

"I'll get off if you get Lettuce's uniform dry-cleaned." Ichigo said as she curled up and placed her chin on her hands.

"Fine! I'll get the damn uniform cleaned, happy?" Ryou asked loudly, throwing out his arms.

Ichigo responded by making a purring noise with her tongue.

Ryou rolled his eyes, "That's it! Off the bed!" He snapped.

"Make me!" Ichigo giggled, sticking out her tongue and pulling down one eyelid.

Ryou then proceeded to dive on his bed, attempting to wrestle Ichigo off. The girl giggled and squirmed under him before reaching under his armpit.

"Ak!" Ryou suddenly began to tremble and laugh, "Ichi-ich! Ha! Go! Let! Ha! Ha! Go-o-o-o!"

"There we go, I knew you could smile!" Ichigo grinned as she pulled her hand back.

"It wasn't funny!" Ryou snapped before hitting Ichigo in the face with a pillow.

"Yeah it was." The teen replied, "Hey, Ryou, where do you go when you die?"

"Huh?" Ryou blinked, he hadn't been expecting that.

"I mean, when you die, you go somewhere, ne?" Ichigo inquired, giving him a serious look.

"I dunno." Ryou shrugged, "There's no evidence to prove-"

"Yeah, I know that, but... do you really go to Heaven or do you just disappear, like, poof!" Ichigo put her hand into a loose fist and sprang it out to illustrate her point, "All that stuff has to go somewhere, like your soul..."

"I'm really not the person you should be asking, Ichigo. I don't really have a religion. Its never been scientifically proved that you even have a soul, accept for in once case that a person put a dying man on a weight, and at the time of his death, he lost three grams, however, the hospital wouldn't let him repeat the procedure for whatever reason. There are also many different theories on the afterlife, like, if you are going to heaven, going to be reincarnated, or if you are just going to go, poof! like you said. Its hard to believe there are so many theories, but only one can be right, and everyone thinks their theory is right, according to their religion. So I'm guessing- Ichigo?" Ryou looked down to see that Ichigo was curled up, her head on his pillow, breathing tiny, deep breaths. Ryou rolled his eyes and stood up, "Baka neko..." He muttered, and then saw Ichigo give an involuntary shudder. Ryou sighed and grabbed a sheet off of the bedpost, throwing it over Ichigo.

"You sleep well, little neko." Ryou said softly as he lightly patted Ichigo on the head.

**To Be Continued... **


	2. A Restless Spirit

**"The Darkness Beyond"**

**By Chocolate Wolfie **

Author's Note: When mint takes a bath, its in a detailed way, slightly different from what Americans are used to. If you want to find out more, I suggest you Google "Japanese Bathrooms" I'm not goanna tell you what Okaa-san and Otou-san mean, its for you to figure out. I refer to one of Ichigo's phrases as a "Kappei joke", you may recognize at as an alteration of one of Bugs Bunny's sayings. The Japanese voice for Bugs is Kappei Yamaguchi, who did the voice for Inuyasha. This is one of the very many inside jokes from other Animes or real life that will be appearing occasionally. Also, a big thanks to my reviewer Shinigamishinkie, keep reviewing, nya!

**Chapter 2**

**A Restless Spirit**

It was almost like a vague, sleepy thought.

Mint sat in the back of an oversized car in a giant car seat. She wore a blue sundress and held a matching rattle. In the front of the car were two shadows making vague sounds that could barely be deciphered as words. Mint turned her head to look outside of the window. Everything was rolling hills, which were paved like roads, above them was a sky which seemed like black velvet with fireflies floating in it.

"Caaake... Mint..." Said one of the shape in a slow, slurry voice. Mint reached out her arms.

"Coookieee..." She said, even though no words came from her mouth.

"Helloooooo..." Suddenly, the front left door floated opened as the shadow closest to it floated out it. The other door floated open, and the other shadow exited through it.

"Kaaaaaa... Toooooou..." Mint cried slowly as she pressed her face to the glass. Outside it was the shape of a girl, standing with pigeon toes, black hair falling over her eyes. At her feet was a woman with a bloodstained blouse, next to her was a man with a knife in his back. Mint slowly looked back to the girl, who stared at her with malicious, red eyes.

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"Noooooo! Okaa-san! Otou-san!" Mint shot up in bed, clumps of sweaty, dark hair dangling in front of her. The sound of her little, Pomeranian dog Miki barking and running around Mint's bed pressed on her ears, "Shut up!" Mint screamed as she slammed her hands over her ears.

"Mint! Daijobu are you okay?" The doors were thrown open as Mint's withered, old grandmother hobbled into the room, dressed in a blue night robe over a white chemise. Mint was sitting on her knees, with her head in her lap, her entire frame shaking. Miki ran up to Mint's grandmother and barked loudly, "Shoo, Miki!" The old woman demanded, and and dog raced past her, out of Mint's room, "Mint! Mint, Aka-chan baby, tell Obaa-chan granny what the matter is?"

"Obaa-chan, I had _that_ dream again!" Mint sobbed as she rocked back and forth. Obaa-chan gave a worried, little gasp and approached the girl, patting her on the back.

"Goodness, Aka-chan... you haven't has _that _dream since you were nine!" Obaa-chan sighed, "Would you like to talk about it? Would you like me to call you therapist?"

"N...no. I think I'll be okay. What time is it?" Mint timidly inquired.

"About half-past six... are you sure you'll be okay?" Obaa-chan asked feeblely as Mint walked fast her.

"I'm fine, I'm going to go bathe." Mint concluded. Obaa-chan sighed and nodded as she watched the teen go.

Mint walked down the halls, Miki at her heels. The girl quietly nudged the dog away with her foot before stepping into the large Japanese-style bathroom. After shedding her nightgown and hair ribbon in the changing room, Mint walked into the bathing room and started up the Shower, which fell down onto a drain made of wooden planks. The sweet smell met her nose and instantly seemed to calm her as she walked over to a small platform on which a deep, circular tub was rested. Mint adjusted the water and closed the drain before heading back to the shower.

As the steam enveloped Mint, she felt her body relax. The girl sat down on the damp planks of wood and shifted to a laying position. The warm beads of water pounding on her side felt almost like a soothing massage. Mint closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, clearing her mind. She saw swirls of darkness all around her, and then, pricing red eyes.

Mint awoke with a start, realizing that the water from the tub had shut itself off. Quietly, she stood up and turned off the shower, eventually migrating to the tub, not caring that she hadn't washed off. Once in the hot, stinging water, Mint felt herself began to drift off again. But whenever she did, she awoke with a start, because the eyes seemed to be haunting her dreams.

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Ichigo lazily awoke at seven in the morning, expecting it to still be night time at Cafe, she sat up in bed and flopped her hands down in front of her. Pushing foreword she arched her back until she head a satisfying crack. When Ichigo opened her eyes, she found that she was not at the Cafe, but instead, in her bedroom. The girl quickly leapt out of bed and out of her room.

"Mama! Papa!" Ichigo cried as she perched herself on the banister and leapt down, landing with precise grace. Ichigo turned on her heel and ran into the kitchen, realizing that she was still in the clothes she had changed into after work.

"Ohaio good morning! You slept a lot last night, Ichigo-chan!" Mrs. Momoiya commented.

"What happened?" Ichigo asked.

"Your friend Ryou drove you home after you fell asleep at work. It was so kawaii cute! He looked like the prince and you looked like sleeping beauty!" Mrs. Momoiya cooed, her hands clasped together.

A drop of sweat formed at Ichigo's head, imagining Ryou in a Samurai outfit, and her in many layers of pastel-colored kimonos, in his arms.

"What happened to make you fall asleep, eh?" Ichigo's father asked angrily.

"Well, we were in his room, talking..." Ichigo began.

"You were WHERE doing WHAT?" Mr. Momoiya yelled.

"I said we were IN HIS ROOM TALKING." Ichigo stated loudly.

"Come now, Koi love! Don't be such a stiff." Mrs. Momoiya sighed with a roll of her eyes.

"I'm not being a stiff! I'm just worried about-" Ichigo drowned out her parents usual arguing by helping herself to a waffle and exiting to her room. Once upstairs, she sat down at her computer to check her messages.

"Sale at a Manga store... blah blah blah... you have won a million yen... blah blah..." Ichigo's glazed expression changed when she came across a message from Masaya.

_To: IchigoNeko _

_From: BlueSamurai205_

_Subject: Miss You _

_Ichigo,_

_London is great! I'm having a bunch of fun, but I still miss you. I can't type much because I'm at school. _

_Love you, _

_Masaya_

Ichigo sighed as she went to delete the rest of the mail, but as she did, an icon reading "You Have Received 1 (One) New Message! Sub: Just Writing To S-" Ichigo deleted her old mail before clicking on the icon.

_To: IchigoNeko _

_From: AltoCat _

_Subject: Just Writing To See How You Are _

_Dear Ichigo, _

_Just to let you know, you fell asleep in my room last night (if you haven't figured that out) around eight. I took you home when you looked like you were dead to the world. I was wondering if you were okay, since you didn't wake up at all when I carried you to and from the car and during the car ride; you seemed pretty out of it. Are you sick or anything? _

_Ryou_

For reasons unbeknownst to her, Ichigo had a sudden image of Roy carrying her out to his car, she cuddled up close to him. The blood rushed to her face as she hit the reply button.

_To: AltoCat _

_From: IchigoNeko _

_Subject: Re: Just Writing To See How You Are _

_Ryou- _

_I'm fine. I think it was just the cat part of me that wanted to make me sleep so much. Ha ha. Don't worry about it._

_Love, _

_Ichigo_

Ichigo quickly read over the message and hastily deleted "love". But as soon as she had, she felt her fingers going in to re-type it.

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"Welcome to Cafe Mew Mew! May I take your order?" Lettuce's voice came from the door.

"Where's Ichigo and Mint? We could really use their help!" Berry exclaimed she she raised the tray she was carrying above her head in order to let Purin pass.

"Mint called in sick and I haven't head from Ichigo-" Akasaka explained.

"Dude! Check!" A girl cried from a nearby table.

"Coming, Miss!" Akasaka declared.

"Mint called in sick?" Zakuro asked as she took the check from Akasaka and brought it to the table.

"I suppose, she didn't sound very sick, more... shaken." Shrugged the young man.

"Akasaka-kun, do you think-?" Zakuro began, Akasaka simply smiled and nodded. Zakuro bowed and uttered thanks before trotting off to the changing room.

"NOOOO!" Screamed Berry as she seemed to be devoured by "T3h evil customers" as she called them. Moments later, the front doors burst open.

Some people said love can drive you to do crazy things... but... no! Ichigo wasn't is love! No way! She loved Masaya!

"Gomen nasai! I slept in!" Ichigo cried as she ran in past Zakuro, who was leaving at a rather quick pace.

"Momoiya-chan, you look lovely today." Smiled Akasaka politely.

"Arigato!" Ichigo grinned before running to the counter. All the other girls momentarily stopped to study Ichigo, like Akasaka had said, she was, in fact, lovely that day.

A tad more lovely than she should have been...

Ichigo had obviously used deep conditioner in the shower that morning and had taken extra care to dry her hair with a brush, after which she had using the curling iron to give her hair some body, and topped that off with pink eye shadow and matching lip gloss. In the late morning light streaming in from the window, one could mistake her for sixteen instead of thirteen.

"Ichigo! Its about time!" Ryou's voice snapped from across the room. Closing her eyes, Ichigo slowly turned around, opening them bit by bit she stopped, her eyes meeting with Ryou's an innocent, pouty look on her face.

Blink. Blink. Okaaaaaaaay...

"Yeah?" Ichigo asked innocently.

"I- come 'mere." Ryou beckoned her over.

At the same time, a million scenarios ran through Ichigo's mind. One, in particular, stuck up.

_Ryou would take Ichigo up to his room. "Why did you sign off your letter with 'love', Ichigo?" He would ask. Ichigo would blush bright red, "R-ryou! I don't know! I'm so confused, I love Masaya, but- but-!" She would stutter. "But nothing!" Ryou would cry, getting dangerously close, "Ichigo! You put love! You love me, Ichigo! And I- I-" Ryou would look away, ashamed, Ichigo would reach out and caress his cheek, turning his face back to her. "I admit it, Ryou. I love you. do you-?" "Yes, Ichigo-Koi. I love you." Ryou would whisper, and he would lay her down, his lips nearing hers..._

"NO!" Ichigo cried. Ryou gave her a look.

"Geez. You don't have to be such a baby-" Ryou muttered with a roll of his eyes.

Ichigo turned bright red and looked away for a moment. "Cool your jets, gaywad. I'm coming." She huffed as she stomped over.

Once over to him, Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "So what's up?" She asked.

"I wanted to run some tests." Ryou explained, "I was worried about you, I think this may have to do something with your cat-genes."

Suddenly, Ryou reached out and grabbed Ichigo's hand. Ichigo's face turned tomato red, but obviously, Ryou didn't notice, as he continued to blather on about sleep...

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"You don't know how much she needs to see you, Zakuro-san." Obaa-chan sighed as Zakuro traveled behind her, "You're like the older sister she never had."

"Mint and I are very close." Zakuro explained, "I felt that something was wrong with her lately."

"Sadly, yes." The older woman nodded mournfully as they stopped at Mint's door.

"Obaa-san, may I ask- what exactly happened to Mint's parents?" Zakuro asked as softly as she could.

Obaa-chan cleared her throat and looked down, "I'm afraid Mint will have to answer that herself, its a very private thing for her."

Zakuro nodded and bowed to the woman before rapping on Mint's furnished door.

"C'min." Mint's muffled voice drifted through the door.

Zakuro pushed open the door, and she couldn't help but be surprised. All of Mint's furniture had been re-arranged, on the floor was a plate of food that had merely been poked around. Mint sat on her bed, her hair pulled into an uncharacteristic ponytail. Instead of her usual, ivory chemise, Mint was dressed in a pair of periwinkle, silk pajama-bottom capris with dark blue bubbles on them and a blue t-shirt with a bird on it. Wrapped around her was a dark red stadium blanket.

"Mint- what happened?" Zakuro asked as she walked into the room.

"Nothing." Mint replied in a grumble as she shifted in place, she then lightly swore to herself, "Ne, Onee-sama, my fingernail scraped against the sheet, is that okay?"

Zakuro blinked, "Why of coarse, why wouldn't it be?"

"Because the material from the blanket could get under my fingernails, and I could accidentally eat in with my food and it could poison me." Mint explained in a flat voice. Zakuro gave Mint a concerned expression.

"Mint- what is going on?" She inquired, a hint of fear in her voice.

"I said that I was _fine_!" Mint snapped and threw the cover over her head, "Uh- I think my mouth may have touched the blanket-"

Zakuro gave a flat chuckle. "Mint, what in the world?"

"I- I don't wanna talk about it." The girl concluded.

Zakuro shook her head and walked out of the room, "You shouldn't- no- you _can't _be like this, Mint! Its not healthy."

"I know! I just- go away!" Mint cried.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So- what's up with me, Doc?" Ichigo asked, inwardly chuckling at her Kappei joke.

"It seems as if you're fine. I think you were just real tired is all." Ryou shrugged.

"Okay, well... I should be getting back to the girls before Purin-chan puts a curse on me!" Ichigo beamed.

"Uh- Ichigo, wait!" Ryou said, reaching out to her.

"Yeah?" She asked, glancing back at him.

"Well- uh- today you are- you look- um- g- no- you-" Ryou blushed, "Bea- er- be-ary good."

Ichigo smiled, "Well, you look be-ary good today, too!"

"Yeah. Um. Domo."

Ichigo turned a corner, still smiling. Her smile quickly faded as she realized what she had just done.

'_AK! No! Bad Ichigo! Baka Ichigo! No flirting! You have a boyfriend!_' One side of her mind argued, '_Well, you couldn't expect yourself to love Masaya forever, now could you?_' '_No, I guess not... its not like we're goanna get married or anything..._'

Ichigo sighed as she walked back into the main room of the cafe, only to fin the girls, not working, gathered around Zakuro.

"Oh, you're back!" Ichigo cried, "What's up?"

"Its Mint." Zakuro replied, "There's something... not right... about her."

Ichigo blinked, "What do you mean?"

Zakuro shook her head, "Its hard to explain. Its like she's another person. She's all anti-social and she's asking really weird questions..."

"Oh?" Akasaka piped in.

"Yeah." Zakuro nodded, "Really weird."

"Oh..." Akasaka repeated, and began pacing, "When did this start?"

"Well, she started acting _really_ weird today, but..." Zakuro began, "She was acting strange yesterday while we were investigating."

"What?" Berry asked, "Do you know anything?"

"I think..." Akasaka's eyes brightened slightly, "I may."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

It killed without care. It tortured without remorse. It didn't know what its objective was. It just knew it had to kill. Yes... if it killed, everything would be better.

The ghastly form of Yuki floated up the side of the tall walls so it could peek into Mint's window. The girl was curled up in bed, trembling and crying. Yuki pushed herself backwards off the wall, falling with a dull _thud_ on the ground. She stood up and glided away.

It knew it had to kill Mint. Mint was special. Mint was perfect.

Mint was the key.

**To Be Continued... **


	3. To Overcome

**"The Darkness Beyond"**

**By Chocolate Wolfie **

Notes: Onii-chan/Nii-chan is the same as "Onee-chan/Nee-chan", but for guys (means "bigger brother"). Omesan means "my dear". Imotou means "Little sister". St. Cecelia Hospital is just a name I made up. Thank you for your reviews, minnah-chan!

**Chapter 3 **

**To Overcome **

Akasaka set down a stack of papers in front of the girls with a _thud_.

"What's this?" Berry asked.

"What you said about Mint yesterday lead me to believe Mint was reacting to the crime scene." Akasaka explained as he picked up a paper on top of the pile, "Take a look at this."

"'Aizawa Couple Dies In Mysterious Murder: Only Child Survives'." Zakuro read, "On the night of October 31st 1995, Aizawa Brarunaka and Aizawa Tenkuu were found stabbed dead. According to a family member, who small remain nameless, they were on their way to a party... no witnesses accept for their three-year-old child... child refused to speak..."

"Is that Mint's mama?" Purin gasped as she pointed to a picture of a young woman with brown hair pulled into an elegant bun. The woman's navy blue eyes shimmered with the same regalness t hat Mint's very eyes possessed.

"The rest of these..." Said Lettuce picking up some of the papers, "Psychiatrist reports... therapy bills... Akasaka-senpai, where-?"

"I have my ways." The man smiled grimly.

"This area-" Zakuro said aloud, "This was the exact same place where we were... by a creek off of Kaede Road."

"I think what may have happened," Said Akasaka as he accepted the reports from the green-haired girl and quietly thumbed through them, "Is that being in that place triggered Mint's memory to recall and thus, relive the event."

"Do you think it was the same person that killed Mint-Onee-chan's parents, na no da?" Asked Purin innocently.

"It could be." Lettuce mused, "But it could also be a coincidence, or even another person mimicking the last murderer."

"Why would they do that, na no da?" Purin inquired.

"Nobody knows." Akasaka shrugged, "Most murderers are insane, but very clever. If they mimic another person, they are attempting to make it look like it was the last person who committed the crime committed the crime that they committed."

"Huh?" Purin asked making a strange face.

"Which means we have two problems." Berry stated, holding up a single finger on each hand, "One: Get Mint better and Two: Get rid of this insane murderer."

"Agreed." Zakuro nodded, "I do believe that we should split up in order to accomplish this job. Lettuce, Purin, Berry you can look into the murder. I'll take Ichigo to see Mint- speaking of which, where is she?"

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Purin piped in, "Ichigo-onee-chan was getting tired of waiting, so she went to go see Ryou-onii-chan after work."

"Would you be so kind as to go get her, Lettuce-omesan?" Akasaka asked, turning to lettuce.

"It would be my pleasure, Akasaka-kun." Lettuce smiled with a small bow before trotting off, two, small, green braids trailing behind her as she went.

Meanwhile, up in Ryou's apartment, Ichigo sat on the boy's bed, scratching at her shoulder. Ryou was at his desk, running some scans on Masha, the pink puffball purring contently while it was in sleep mode. Ichigo paused in her frequent scratching to look at Ryou. The young man had such an intent look on his face as he worked; his crystal blue eyes were narrowed slightly in concentration and his lips were sucked slightly into his mouth. Every now and then his fingers would stop moving and he would rest his chin on one hand and stare at the screen before beginning to type once more. Ichigo gave a tiny sigh as he toggled the mouse and unplugged Masha.

"Ohaio good morning! R2000 is updated and ready to operate!" Announced the pink creature.

"Com'ere Masha-chan." Ichigo said happily as she held out one hand, scratching her shoulder with the other.

"What's the matter with your back?" Ryou asked.

"Nothin'." Ichigo replied as she slammed her hand back down on her lap.

"Turn around, I wanna see." Ryou demanded.

"No way!" Ichigo cried as Ryou walked over.

"Come on, what is it?" Asked the blonde, attempting to turn her around.

"No! No way! Its too-" Too late. Ryou had turned Ichigo around and was staring at her bare upper back, which could easily be seen because of the pink halter she was dressed in.

"You have acne on your back?" Ryou asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I told you it was really embarrassing!" Ichigo blushed as she picked up a pillow and batted him away.

"No its not, I had acne on my back until I was fifteen." Ryou shook his head and went over to his dresser.

"You did?" Ichigo asked as she scratched again.

"Yeah- and don't pick at it, it will only give you scars." Ryou said as he pulled a small tube out, "This was the only stuff that worked for me- I kept it around in case it ever came back."

"Really?" Ichigo asked as Ryou came over, he nodded in reply as he placed his hand on Ichigo's back, which sent an involuntary shiver up her spine, "Oooh... that feel nice."

"Oh?" Ryou asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Your hand is nice and cool, it feels good on my back." Ichigo nodded, just as lettuce walked up to the door.

"I didn't know it would feel that good to put it there." Said Ryou as Lettuce's hand paused in front of the knob. She made a strange face at it.

"It does- so just keep it there." Ichigo's voice floated through the door. A blush crept on to Lettuce's face.

"You can't expect me to keep it here forever." Sighed Ryou as he took his hand away.

"No! Put it back!" Ichigo whined as she grabbed his hand.

"Give it back, Ichigo! Come on! I'll put the stuff on it, that will make it feel better." Ryou argued.

"No!" Ichigo pouted, "Put it back, it won't work as well. Natural comes before artificial!"

THUD.

"What was that?" Ichigo asked.

"I don't know." Ryou replied as he opened the door. Lettuce lay belly-up, passed out on the floor in front of Ryou's room.

"Hey, Lettuce. Wake up." Said Ryou, giving the girl a little shake. Lettuce's eyes flickered open as she saw the two hovering over her. The turned turned bright red and leapt up.

"Uhh-uhh-uhh- Akasaka-kun and everyone wants you, uhh- bye!" The girl zoomed off at the speed of light as Ichigo and Ryou watched her go.

"What's gotten into her?" Ichigo inquired.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later that evening, in the dusty light of twilight, Berry stood by the edge of the dried-up creek, glairing at the mud.

"Come on, Berry-chan! Hiaku (hurry up), na no da!" Purin cried from the other side of the creek. The nearly-teenager smiled cheerfully and waved her arms as if to signal down her friend.

"Its easy! Even I made it!" Lettuce called in reassurance, brushing a small, loose lock of olive-green hair out of her face.

"Do you know how much these jeans cost?" Berry exclaimed, pointing to the white-wash hip huggers she wore, accompanied by a strapless, pale orange shirt with gathered fabric on the bust. Her long, blonde hair had been pulled up into a messy bun to keep it out of her face, which was already sweaty from the walk down, "My mom would kill me, bring me back to life, and then kill be again if I got even one speck of mud on these!"

"Then I'll help you across!" Purin backed up and took a running start, and with a flying leap and a "Na no da!" she was on the other side of the creek. The monky-ish girl grabbed the taller blonde by the hair and yanked her across the ditch. Berry screamed as two, white rabbit ears popped up on her head, and began to hastily hop over the patches of mud, narrowly avoiding a particularly large one. Once across, panting hard, Berry pushed the white ears back into her head, "What was that for?"

"For getting you across and improving your reflexes, na no da!" Purin declared with a grin and a raised finger.

"YOU LITTLE TWERP! YOU'RE GOANNA PAY!" Screamed Berry, a vein throbbing on her forehead as she picked up the smaller girl and raised her above her head, facing the muddy ditch.

"Berry-san! Ma'te wait!" Lettuce cried, her hand trembling as a drop of sweat appeared on the back of her head.

Once Lettuce had calmed down Berry and freed Purin, the three girls started off into the wooded area behind the creek. It seemed to be composed of thin, light-barked trees, which seemed to make up for their lack of width in their massive height. Sun streamed down through the leaves, disturbed only slightly by the wind, giving the ground a bizarre swaying appearance caused bu light streaming upon it.

"Stupid nature..." Berry grumbled as she trudged along, pushing thick bushes out of the way as she went.

"How could you say that, Berry-san?" Asked Lettuce cheerfully as the breeze hit her in the face.

"I have my reasons." The blonde snorted as she stepped over a stinking pile of animal poop, slightly crusted with age.

"Look! A house, na no da!" Purin cried, pointing ahead.

"Woah! Its huge!" Berry cried staring at the giant, Western-style mansion ahead. The outside was shackled in pepper gray with slate gray shingles as the roof. Windows variating from small and circular, to humongous French windows covered the entirety of the house, in the front was a set of black double doors set on a porch.

"'Konpaku'." Lettuce read from a small family nameplate nailed to a post in front of the house.

"I wonder what such a house would be doing all the way back here." Berry commented, "It looks like the only way to get here is over the creek."

"There probably used to be a bridge, na no da!" Purin exclaimed as she bounced about the front yard, her blonde hair flying about her face.

"Or maybe another way here from behind." Lettuce suggested. Berry nodded in reply and stared at the ominous house.

"Let's go tell the guys about this. I wanna get outta here, this place gives me the creeps." Berry shivered as the other two nodded and followed her away. Just before the house went out of sighed, Berry took a chance to glance back at it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I hope we can get her out of this 'trance'." Ichigo sighed as they walked through Mint's large home. The girl carried with her a white tennis sack covered with tiny strawberries that was slung over her shoulder.

"Me, too. I just can't stand to see her like this." Zakuro sighed, and Ichigo thought she could see a glimmer of worry in the elder girl's violet eyes.

"I hope she'll really not all that-" Ichigo pushed open Mint's door, "Bad..."

In the day away from the other girls, Mint's room seemed to have accumulated a massive stack of plates and cups filled with unfinished food and drink. Books and CD's were strewn about the floor in an unruly matter, and Mint was huddled up in her bed, trembling. "Mint!" Ichigo cried, running to the girl.

"Ichigo..." Mint whispered as she wiped tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Mint! Mint! What happened to you?" Ichigo asked as she proceeded to throw herself on Mint's bed and glomp the poor girl.

"I dunno... tired." Mint grumbled as she rested her head on Ichigo's shoulder and gave the girl a weak squeeze as a hug.

"Oh, Mint!" The redhead said as she looked about the room, noticing the stack of unfinished food, "Have you eaten _anything_?"

"Not hungry." The blue-haired girl grumbled as she released Ichigo and laid back down in bed.

"I think you'll change your mind when you see..." Ichigo reached into the bag and pulled out a large chocolate éclair, "This! Its your favorite." Mint gave a dull look to the pastry as Ichigo waved it in front of her face, "Yummy, yummy! Don't pretend that I haven't seen you scarf these after work."

"No thanks." Mint sighed as she rolled over.

"Mint, we need to talk." Zakuro said seriously, "You can't spend your entire life in this room fearing about the future. For Kami's sake, Mint! You've helped defend the world on numerous occasions and faced death many times! Why worry about something as trivial as this-?"

"ITS NOT TRIVIAL!" Mint roared suddenly sitting up in bed, "WHY DO YOU THINK I'VE GONE THROUGH ALL THIS HELL MY WHOLE LIFE? HAVING TO FORCE MYSELF AND OTHERS TO LIE FOR ME, TO TELL OTHERS THAT MY PARENTS ARE 'JUST AWAY' IN ORDER TO NUMB THE PAIN? YOU HAVE NO CLUE WHAT IT IS LIKE! YOU HAVE NO CLUE WHAT ITS LIKE TO REMEMBER THAT GOD-AWFUL IMAGE OF THEM STABBED TO DEATH AS YOU SIT THERE, WONDERING WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON? YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW IT IS TO LAY IN BED AT NIGHT AND REMEMBER HOW YOUR OLDER BROTHER STOOD THERE AND LOOKED AT YOU LIKE-IT-WAS-YOUR-FAULT!" Ichigo gasped in surprise as the navy-blue-haired girl seized a lamp and threw it at Zakuro with all her might, the lamp was thrown to the floor roughly a yard in front of the bed with a _thump_. Zakuro stared at Mint with dead-serious eyes before walking right up to her bed and slapping Mint right across the face.

"Zakuro!" Gasped Ichigo, stunned at her elder's actions.

"Imouto-chan!" Zakuro cried, her eyes wide and fearful, "You _can not_ keep dwelling on the past! You just _can't_! Look how its making you, Mint-imouto-chan!" Cried the girl with the pastel-purples tresses as she jabbed a finger at the lamp of the floor and then at the rest of the room, whose contents had been uncharacteristically strewn about. Zakuro seized Mint by the shoulders, "It isn't healthy Mint! You are _not_ accomplishing _anything _by hiding from your problems, you're making yourself _miserable_! Mint!" Zakuro shook the girl, who was surprised to see tears in her elder's eyes, "We _love_ you Mint-imouto-chan, and we don't want _anything_ to stop you from being who you are!"

"Zakuro-onee-sama... you called me..." Mint said softly, tears forming in her eyes as well.

"We all love you, Mint-chan." Ichigo echoed Zakuro's words as she put one arm around her friend, "Never forget that."

"Ichigo-chan... Zakuro-onee-sama..." Mint said as Zakuro pulled her into a tight hug, "THANK YOU!" Screamed Mint as her tears freely rolled down her cheeks, she then proceeded to burry her face in Zakuro's shoulder and sob hysterically, "I promise! I promise that I will NEVER let this happen again! Never ever! I will NOT hide my problems! I love you so much!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"We have a family name of Konpaku." Lettuce reported to Akasaka and Ryou. As a "reward" for going on their little mission, the two had agreed to order Chinese food for the three girls. The group of five had moved to the large meeting room to eat where Berry smiled and laughed as she loudly slurped some steamy hot-and-sour soup as Purin threw golden-brown Walnut-chicken, covered in a sweet mayonnaise sauce, up into the air and caught in in her mouth.

"Konpaku, I'll have to research that. R2000, make a note on that." Ryou added to Masha as it nibbled on a Crab Rangoon.

"Okie dokie!" Masha giggled.

"I don't get it." Berry added as she hovered over the pink pom-pom, "Masha's a robot, he shouldn't need to eat."

"Ah, and yet it does." Akasaka smiled mysteriously.

"Well, it did eat the little aliens controlling the Chimera animal, na no da!" Purin added, wiping sauce off of her mouth with a napkin.

"The weird thing was, there didn't seem to be a way to get to that house back there." Berry added to Ryou as Purin closely inspected the pink machine's mouth.

"And it looked pretty much deserted." Lettuce nodded.

"Hmm, maybe I should do a search on that now." Ryou said as he stood up and walked over to the large computer. Everyone else ate in silence (save for Purin's loud slurping and chomping) until Ryou made an interested noise.

"What is it?" Akasaka asked.

"Come look at this, all of you." Ryou said urgently. Akasaka, flocked by the girls, stood up and walked over to the computer.

"'October 31st, 1984. Konpaku Kuro, Age 14, Stabs Family to Death In Private Manor: Only Survivor Is Sister.'" Lettuce read in a shocked voice, "Ryou-kun, could she be the one that killed-?"

"I don't know." Ryou said, his voice cold and worried, "Because it says that right after that, she committed suicide."

"Wait a moment-!" Cried Berry, "The body that was found by Mint's parent's was that of a fourteen-year-old girl! And the one found the other day! Plus- the girl that just disappeared was around that age, too! What could this mean?"

"I don't know." Ryou said darkly, "But whatever it does, mean, it's not good."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mew Mint stood by the lone creek, her eyes narrowed in concentration. The girl's hair was rustled slightly by the wind, but nothing more than that. Mint spread out her arms and cried:

"Come and get me! I'm not afraid of you!"

From the shadows of the trees, emerged the mangled form of the girl Yuki, her eyes a shade of slate gray.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't little Miss Mint?" Said Yuki in both her voice and a breathy voice seeming to come from beyond her body. The breathier voice sent shivers up Mint's spine.

"I said I'm not afraid of you!" Mew Mint screamed, "I'm going to overcome you! I'll make you pay for what you did to my family and me!"

"I doubt it." Yuki smiled, "The only pain you are inflicting is that upon yourself."

"NO!" Mint screamed with a vigorous shake of her head, "I don't care how much it hurts! I _will_ destroy you!"

"You will _not_ destroy me, Mint." The girl said, her gray eyes beginning to flicker with red, "I know you inside and out. I have known you better than myself since the very night that I made you my target."

"Wait- you mean-" Mint gasped, taking a step backwards.

"Yes, Mint. It _was_ all your fault your parents died. It was right of your brother to blame you for that, just because of who you are, Mint. And no matter how much you try, you can't change that." Said the girl as wisps of black some came from her eyes, nose and mouth, her red eyes going black as night itself.

"It was..." Mint echoed blankly as her eyes went black themselves. The wisps of ebony smoke swirled around her, embracing her, tainting her, becoming one with her. Mint's black eyes slowly widened as she felt her soul being enveloped by darkness itself, slowly being dragged down into the endless pit of her mind.

Mint watched from the darkness as a new presence formed within her. For a split second, she saw the girl. Loose, ebony curls fell over her slate-gray eyes. Her body was slender with no curves, and her bones seemed to press against her pale skin. She smiled weakly, yet maliciously at Mint before she was cast away into nothingness.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Missing?" Asked the girls as they leaned in.

"Hai." Sobbed Obaa-chan, "She just disappeared from the house last night, shortly after Zakuro-san and Ichigo-san left."

"Mint-imouto-chan..." Whispered Zakuro looking downwards.

"Are you sure you haven't seen or heard from her?" Asked the young policewoman accompanying Obaa-chan, genuine worry in her brown eyes, "We're very worried, because we think it may be the serial killer that killed the other girl. It seems that whenever a body shows up, another girl goes missing... and we may think..." The young woman need not to finish her sentence. Oba-chan let out a long sob.

"No. We haven't." Ichigo said truthfully with a shake of her head, "So you must've found the body of that young girl that went missing several days ago?"

"Yes and no." The policewoman sighed, "She was in pretty bad shape, but not dead. We took her to a hospital, but there was little the doctors could do. She's in intensive care."

"That's so sad." Lettuce whispered.

"It is." The woman nodded, "Hopefully we can have Tokyo Mew Mew help. We don't like to rely on them, yet they've been so helpful lately..."

"I'm sure they'd be happy to help." Grinned Ichigo with a twinkle in her eye, "I bet you wouldn't even have to ask."

"I agree." The policewoman nodded, "Domo arigato. Your time is greatly appreciated."

"Its no problem." Berry smiled with a polite bow.

Once Obaa-chan and the woman were gone, the girls turned to each other, each with a worried expression.

"What in the world do you think could have happened to Mint?" Ichigo nervously inquired, her eyes wide with worry.

"I just don't know." Zakuro breathed, "Its like there's a piece missing from the puzzle."

"Like when we thought Ryou-kun was the blue knight, na no da?" Pudding piped in.

"No, then it was more of only one piece from an entire, colossal puzzle." Ichigo sighed.

The girls stood in silence for mere moments.

"Do you think that the girl, Yuki, may know something about it?" Lettuce inquired.

"They said she's in intensive care." Berry sighed, "_I_ sure wouldn't like to go bug her..."

"But on the other hand, she's the only person we have to talk to." Zakuro sighed as she pinched the area of her nose in-between her eyes, "And what if she-"

"Then all that information is lost." Ichigo concluded.

"But you do have another you are bypassing." Everyone wheeled around to see Ryou walk up to them.

"Who would that be?" Zakuro asked.

"The only survivor from the stabbing at the estate behind the creek, Konpaku Aneko. Elder sister of the murderer herself." Ryou explained.

"Ah! Where can we get a hold of her?" Asked Ichigo, a smile growing on her face.

"At St. Cecelia Hospital, therapy ward." The young man explained.

**To be continued... **


	4. Lost, But Not Lost

**"The Darkness Beyond"**

**By Chocolate Wolfie **

Author's NoteWOOOO HOOOOO! Chocolate Wolfie-chan has officially received Tokyo Mew Mew, all episodes via the mail on Saturday April First! And this is no April Fools Joke! Praise t3h lord and dance in t3h streets! Okies, somebody had a tad too much caffeine oO (Three, maybe more, cans of Diet Cherry Cola) I'm already on an anime-watching streak and I have watched one out of five discs and I'm already working on finishing the second. "Doki Doki" is a Japanese onomatopoeia for the beating of a heart (kinda like "Thump Thump" or "Lub Dub"). Koiyami is lovesickness. Ryou calls Berry "Usagi", this means "Rabbit" and it also plays a pun on the main character from Sailor Moon, Usagi, who is a crybaby.

And a big thanks to **Tylec Asroc** for being such a good reviewer! Thanks for all your reviews, Minnah-chan!

**Chapter 4 **

**Lost, But Not Lost **

"So, this is the place, ne?" Ichigo asked as she looked about the small waiting room in which they were seated. All the furniture seemed to be made up of pure bright colors and plastic, while the walls were plastered with construction paper and various art projects ranging from self portraits to squiggly yarn paintings.

"I suppose." Lettuce said softly, watching some children throw marbles at one another, "I don't think any of us were expecting this to be a children's hospital."

"Es'cuse me, tall lady." Came a timid, little voice in English. Zakuro looked downwards to see a little girl tugging on her skirt. Many things stood out about this American girl, her freckled skin was quite pale compared to that of the other Asian girls, her hair was of a bright, orange color that they had rarely seen, and, what probably stood out most about her was her coruscating, blue eyes.

"Why, yes?" Zakuro asked with a smile, in English.

"You're pretty." Beamed the child.

"Thank you, little one." Zakuro replied as she knelt down to face the girl, "You're quite pretty, too."

"No, I'm not." Said the child, and raised her right arm, Berry blinked to check her eyes, and then realized that girl girl's arm was prosthetic, "A car hit me, and now I don't got no arm." The girl changed her view from her arm to Zakuro's eyes, "I'm not goanna cross the street without my mommy ever again."

"Well, I think that you are perfectly pretty, young lady." Said Zakuro as she patted the child on the shoulder.

"Thanks!" The girl blushed, "You're all really pretty."

As the elder girls thanked her, a young woman in her late thirties crossed the room towards them. She was dressed in a pair of loose, black dress pants and a black airport top with a loose tie around the waist that completed the ensemble. Covering her eyes was a pair of oval spectacles, the window of the right one covered with a small bit of gauze.

"I see you've met little Lisa-chan." Smiled the woman, "She just recently moved to Japan and had a very traumatic experience. I'm trying to help her cope with it all; she's proving to be quite a tough case. Whenever we start making progress, she'll have a nightmare, and its back to square one."

Suddenly, the woman blushed and giggled, "Oh! How rude of me! My name is Konpaku Aneko. I don't know if you're even the girls who wanted to meet me-"

"You got the right girls." Ichigo grinned, "My name is Momoiya Ichigo."

"And I'm Shirayuki Berry." Berry smiled as well, raising her hand.

"Phon Purin, na no da!" Purin said with a little bow. Aneko chuckled at the end of the girl's sentence.

"My name is Midorikawa Lettuce, its quite a pleasure to meet you." Lettuce bowed deeply.

"And I am Fujiwara Zakuro." Zakuro ended with a small inclination of her head.

"Oh, you'll have to excuse me, I'm terrible with names." Aneko smiled, "Let's see, Ichigo-san... Berry-san... Purin-san... Lettuce-san... and Zakuro-san?"

"Good job, you win a cookie, na no da!" Purin cried as she removed a small cookie from her pocket and placed it in Aneko's hand. The woman stared at it for a moment as if it was the most bizarre thing on earth before bursting into laughter.

"You are so adorable!" She cried, "Oh, now. Let's go into my office, shall we?"

The girls nodded and slowly followed the woman out of the waiting room and down a hallway; it was quite similar to that of the waiting room, but without the plastic furniture and piles of dirty toys. The walls were all plastered with the same bright-colored cardboard borders framing large spaces of construction paper which were covered in simple art projects, most indecipherable of what they were made to depict.

She quietly opened a door which lead them into a pristine little office. On one side of the room, there was a desk covered in various papers and trinkets surrounding a large flat-screen computer situated next to a large, green office chair. On the other side of the room was a little wooden table with a whiteboard surface, covered in various scribbles as well as a small bookcase, and, last but not least, a large, green sofa with two matching armchairs on either side. While Berry, Ichigo and Purin crammed together on the couch, Lettuce and Zakuro sat of the spare armchairs. Aneko plopped down on her office chair and beamed at the girls.

"Your manager- Ryan?" She began.

"Ryou." Ichigo corrected with a smile.

"Gomen- Ryou." Aneko corrected herself, "Your manager Ryou wanted you to interview me?"

"That's correct, ma'am." Zakuro nodded.

"Alright, then." Aneko sighed as she removed her glasses. The girls stared in shock to see that the panel of her glasses that had been filled with gauze covered one of her eye sockets, which was completely empty and healed over with pink scar tissue. Not only that, but the hand that she had removed them with was missing its pinky finger, and the tip of its pointer finger.

Zakuro reached over and lightly swatted Ichigo's shoulder, when Ichigo looked to the purple haired young woman, she instantly understood the meaning of "If looks could kill.". Ichigo felt a burden come off of her as soon as Zakuro lifted her death glare. She looked to her right to learn that Berry, Purin and, surprisingly, even Lettuce, had received the same glare, as they were all looking downwards at their laps or shoes, drops of sweat gathered at their heads.

"Don't be afraid to stare. I don't mind." Aneko said as she drew her legs up and casually rested them on her desk, "Plenty of my patients have trouble with being stared at, like Lisa. But I tell them 'You wouldn't like not being stared at at all would you?' or 'If they don't stare, how can they learn about you?'. By staring at me, you learn plenty about my past. It all started when I was seventeen."

Aneko sighed and shifted uncomfortably in her seat, staring at the ceiling as if she were waiting upon it to give her answers. "Kuro was such a talented girl, she had the most beautiful singing voice that I have ever heard, even to this day." The woman sighed nostalgically, closing her eyes as a smile melted onto her face, "It was so sweet and breathy, like a crystal bell or... or honey. She could charm an audience for hours on end, song after song after song. While she had wonderful stage talent, I had more school talent; poor Kuro couldn't get a seventy percent on a test if she tried. She was always so jealous of my school talents, saying how I always rubbed it in her face... I never see how I did, I was always trying to encourage her to do better in school, but I suppose she simply took it the wrong way.

"Well, when she was about twelve, Kuro began to act... violent. She would go up into her room for hours at a time, demanding nobody bother her, she'd lash out at you in a fit of screaming even if you asked her to come down for dinner. Then it got worse. Kuro would not have certain foods on certain days or certain times. For instance: I remember that she refused to have salad on Monday mornings for lunch, but after twelve it was acceptable. Kuro's hours at a time in her room slowly turned into days; we would leave food in front of her room and she'd leave plates and a note for what she wanted next. My parents... were always trying to coax her out of the room, but whenever they did, it was a disaster. On her thirteenth birthday, they bought her a new limo to be taken around in, she pinpointed every small thing wrong about it and threw her cake at my mother. Then we tried to send her to therapy... and that only made it worse. By the time Kuro was fourteen, she was mad. She would come out of her room all the time, yes, but she would spend that time out of her room screaming at the maids and charging through the house, overturning chairs and braking mother's art... and then, one night, she just lost it."

Aneko sighed and shook her head, facing the girls with a grim smile, "So, what do you think of that?"

"Scary..." Pudding whimpered, shrinking into her seat.

"It was very scary. And I believe it still is. Call me crazy, but, I think Kuro's still out there; _she_ was the one who killed all those people. I don't know why and I don't know how, its just my intuition; but I know its Kuro. She still haunts my dreams." Aneko shivered and gave a shuddering breath.

"I feel terribly sorry, but you have helped us in a way you never know." Zakuro stated as she stood up and walked over to Aneko, placing a hand on your shoulder.

"Ah- yes. Many people say that I've helped them in one way or another, just with my story." Sniffed the woman as she drew a hankie from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes, "That the main reason I became a therapist."

"You're a very good story teller, Konpaku-Sensei." Ichigo smiled with a bow.

"Thank you so much for your time." Berry agreed, bowing as well.

"Oh, anytime girls." Smiled Aneko, falling back into her original, cheerful state, "If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to drop in."

"We won't, Sensei." Lettuce was the last to bow before exiting the room.

"Eh! I'm hungry, let's get something to eat!" Ichigo's voice drifted in through the hall.

"Such sweet girls." Aneko sighed as she sunk back into her chair.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"She would go up into her room for hours at a time, demanding nobody bother her, she'd lash out at you in a fit of screaming even if you asked her to come down for dinner. Then it got worse. Kuro would not have certain foods on certain days or certain times. For instance: I remember that she refused to have salad on Monday mornings for lunch, but after twelve it was acceptable. Kuro's hours at a time in her room slowly turned into days; we would leave food in front of her room and she'd leave plates and a note for what she wanted next."

"txendetnawehstahwrofetonadnasetalpevaeldehsdnamoorrehfotnorfnidoofevaeldluowewsyadotnidenrutylwolsmoorrehniemitatasruohsorukelbatpeccasawti-" Squeaked the speakers playing the recording of the session as Ryou hit the rewind button.

"-it was acceptable. Kuro's hours at a time in her room slowly turned into days; we would leave food in front of her room and she'd leave plates and a note for what she wanted next." Echoed Aneko's voice as the images from the large screen danced in reverse in Ryou's icy blue eyes.

"What could it mean?" Ichigo asked in a hushed voice.

"I dunno." Ryou replied as Aneko expressed that she thought Kuro was still out there, "None of the reports said anything about her room- and yet... meh."

"Yeah, I get it." Nodded the redhead in reply, "You think that they're hiding something?" The girl abruptly winced "Oww..."

"Yup." Ryou nodded, "More murders... drugs... abuse from family members... could be anything. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine- what do you think we should do?" Ichigo's muffled voice came from the other side of the door. Outside the door to the lap, left to right, stood Purin, Berry, and Lettuce, each with their ear pressed to the door.

"They've been spending so much time together..." Said Berry, one eye gleaming in suspicion.

"Its more of Ichigo-onee-chan spending time with him..." Purin muttered, narrowing her eyes.

"I'm telling you!" Lettuce whispered, "Something was up the other day when I was outside of their room."

"Don't you mean Ryou's room?" Berry asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"No! No no no!" Lettuce squealed quickly, franticly snaking her head and waving her hands.

"Shouldn't Ichigo-onee-chan be true to Masaya-onii-chan, na no da?" Purin inquired.

"They've been in an overseas relationship for a year now!" Berry replied as she smushed her fish into Purin's noggin, grinding it in for emphasis, "Don't you think that'd get a tad hard- and not to mention boring?"

"And even I've seen the way Ichigo has looked at Ryou-kun, even since the beginning." Lettuce blushed.

"Its not just Ichigo." The trio of girls jumped to see that they had been joined by Zakuro, who was leaning against the door as well, "Have you seen the way Ryou turns away from her after she walks away; he's _always_ blushing."

"Ma'te- could this mean...?" Berry gasped, her amber eyes widening.

"Love?" The girls whispered in unison. Suddenly, they all stiffened at the sound of muffled footsteps.

"Oh no!" Squeaked Lettuce, "They're coming!"

"AK!" Berry cried, making wild gesticulations with her arms, "Act natural!"

As Lettuce rushed over to a mop and bucket, Zakuro quickly looked left and right before pretending to look like she was going to knock on the door, all the while, Berry and Purin ran about in circles before crashing into Lettuce.

"-so would that be okay?" Ryou was asking as he opened the door, "Oh! Zakuro... uh."

Both Ichigo and Ryou were staring at the floor where Lettuce lay belly-up, her glasses askew and her eyes swirling, Purin with the bucket of dirty water over her head not far away. Berry was sitting rigidly on the ground, water mere centimeters from her.

"I'm not even going to ask..." Ryou said as he walked away, a drop of sweat forming at the back of his head.

"Minnah! Daijobu (are you okay)?" Ichigo asked urgently.

"Na... no... da..." Purin's dizzy voice echoed from under the bucket as she fell over to one side with a _clunk_.

A drop of sweat formed at Ichigo's head as she followed Ryou up the stairs, clutching at her stomach. The blonde glanced back at her as she struggled up the stairs, one hand on the railing, the other on her naval.

"Daijobu?" He inquired as he pushed open his door.

"I-" Ichigo winced as she walked in, "I think I may of eaten something bad."

"Well, go to the bathroom!" Ryou snapped, "Don't throw up on me!"

"I don- don... Idon'tthinkIcanmakeit!" The redhead said in a jumble of words before clapping her hands over her mouth.

"Ichigo! Ichigo!" Ryou yelled as he gripped her shoulders.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ichigo's eyes slowly flickered open. It was almost like a dream. Sunlight poured in through the window and spilled about her room. Everything, from the knickknacks of cats, to photos of her friends on her dresser, seemed perfectly placid in the golden light. Ichigo herself felt more comfortable and content then she had felt in a long time; her first response to waking up to to sink back into the warmth of her bed and fall back asleep. But instead, she found a detail that she had overlooked before.

Ichigo sighed and gave a gentle squeeze to the limp hand hers was cupped around. Whoever it had belonged to had spent the whole night holding back her hair as she was sick in the toilet. She supposed it was her mother, since her father wouldn't have held back her hair and patted her back... however, her mother would be very unlikely to be carrying her to and from the bed on trips to the toilet.

Wait a second...

Ichigo's eyes reopened slowly as she stared at the hand gripping hers. She slowly followed the hand up to its owner's arm... shoulder... neck... h-

_Hell_ no.

A flood of memories came back to Ichigo... barfing all over the floor, being in the car where she sat in his lap as he held a barf bucket to her face, him carrying her to bed and helping her mother check her temperature.

And there Ryou sat right next to her bed. Ryou. Shirogane. Shirogane Ryou. Ryou Shirogane. Not only that, he had been the one to help her out the whole night, carrying her, holding back her hair, soothing her with his gentle words... he was probably even outside the bathroom when...

Ichigo's face turned beet red as she pulled the covers up to her nose, with a tiny noise of horror. She remembered how she had sobbed about never eating at a hospital cafeteria ever again while he gave a good natured laugh over her loud puking noises. How she had moaned of never being able to look at chocolate syrup and...

'_Congratulations, Momoiya Ichigo! You have won the "World's Most Embarrassed Teenager" Award!_' A little voice said in her head. Ichigo let out a tiny sniffle as tears formed in her eyes. He'd never be able to let this one go. He'd mock her for the rest of her life, tell everyone at work how she had first went up-chuck all over his carpet, then relied on him to carry her home where he had to help out wile she barfed and crapped herself from food poisoning. '_This can't be happening! Why, Kami-sama? Why me? Why did you have to make hospital food so toxic?_' She let out another sob, this one louder then the rest. With a small snort in his sleep, Ryou slowly awoke.

'_Oh, KAMI-SAMA!_' Thought Ichigo, her eye twitching with severe embarrassment, '_What is he going to SAY!_' An image of a chibi Ryou pointing and laughing at Ichigo calling her "Crapperella" as he pranced around her instantly popped into her mind.

The blonde blinked several times before looking down to Ichigo.

'_Hoo boy, here it comes..._' Ichigo winced.

Ryou slowly opened his mouth.

'_Goodbye crewel world!_'

It opened... and opened...

'_This is the..._'

And Ryou's eyes... squeezed shut?

'_...end?_'

The tow head forced out a yawn and then looked back to Ichigo. Before the girl even had a chance to think, he stroked her hand with his thumb and bent down closer to her.

"You okay?" He asked softly.

"Umm..." Ichigo felt her heart squeeze tightly; it trembled and then fluttered.

"You were pretty out of it, Ichigo. The way you were going on, I thought you may die." Said Ryou gently.

'_I think I may die now..._' Thought the girl, "Ryou- I- um." Slowly, Ichigo reached out with her spare hand and caressed Ryou's cheek, "Ryou-kun, thank you."

"Well, that's a change." Blinked Ryou.

"Ne?" Ichigo inquired, with a catty cock of her head.

"That's the first time you've added the honorific, correct me if I'm wrong." Blushed the boy.

_Doki Doki_. "Yeah, I guess so..." Ichigo whispered.

"Ah! You're awake!" Came the sunny voice of Mrs. Sakura Momoiya as the woman stepped into the room, "You should thank Shirogane-kun, he helped you home and stayed up all night taking care of you."

"Ah! Domo arigato!" Ichigo cried, bowing her head.

"No problem. Neko-chan." Ryou grinned as he tapped her nose. Ichigo blushed and giggled.

"**_OOOOH?_**" Came a loud voice from the door.

"That can't be good." Ichigo muttered.

"See! See! I _told_ you, Sakura!" Cried Ichigo's father, Shintaro Momoiya, jabbing a finger at the two, "That boy- those two- I want him out! Out! _Out_! **_OUT_**!"

"Oh, Shin-chan, don't you remember our first date?" Sakura gushed, "You took me out for dinner and we played the lobster crane game, you won the biggest one for me, and it cost you eight thousand yens (roughly eighty American dollars)! They cooked it for free and I got food poisoning . I was sick all night and you were outside the bathroom worrying your little tooshie off!"

"Sakura! That was ages ago!" The man yelped and Ichigo and Ryou looked to each other and snorted in laughter.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later into the day, Ichigo lay sprawled over the couch, her head in Ryou's lap as they watched a young boy dressed in red scream and argue with a schoolgirl on the television. Then came the sound of the chiming doorbell and a light creak of the door.

"Well, hello there!" Cried Sakura happily, "Come in! Come in! Ichigo-chan and Ryou-kun are on the couch w-"

Before either of them could even blink, Purin and Berry had already ripped through the house, standing in front of Ryou and Ichigo with malicious looks on their faces.

"So it is true, na no da!" Purin gasped, sticking her face inches from Ichigo's.

"NYAAA!" Ichigo cried, bolting upright as two, large, black neko-ears popped out of her head, "No! Its not what it looks like! I'm sick! He's taking care of me!"

"Ne? Well, you look better to me..." Grinned Berry as she jammed her head next to Purin's.

"No! Look at me, I'm as sick as a dog!" Ichigo cried, waving her hands about.

"Oh, really?" The two asked in unison, "The only sickness you have is _koi_... _ya_... _mi_." They ended slowly.

"Shut up! I do not have koiyami!" Ichigo huffed deliberately.

"_Riiiiiiiight_..." They nodded slowly.

"Ohaio gozimasu (good morning/good day), Ichigo-san, Ryou-kun." Came Lettuce's breathy voice as she floated into the room, followed by Zakuro.

"You wanted to see us, Ryou-kun?" Asked Zakuro.

"YoU iNvItEd tHeM!" Ichigo wailed, sitting on her knees as she came right up to Ryou's face.

"Hai." Ryou nodded as he flicked Ichigo on the forehead, "And because I wanted to tell them that you are going to go check out that house."

"We have to go back _there_?" Berry whined, tears flowing from her watery eyes.

"Yep, and no complaining, either, Usagi." Ryou snorted as he leaned back.

Berry growled and turned around with a stomp and an angry huff.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"That sounds great! I'll see you at seven! Jaa, then!" With a click, a young brunette girl slapped her cell phone closed as she strolled along in the darkness, "Eh! What a relief! I was beginning to think we'd never get good reception all the way out here on this island!"

"-I can give you whatever you want, you know." A breathy voice floated from behind a pristine cottage. The brunette girl instantly slipped behind a tree and nervously craned her head out from behind it.

There stood a young girl, roughly fourteen or fifteen; she was staring with glassy eyes into a gaze of another young woman her age. This other young woman was nowhere as near as normal as the other girl. She wore a short, black dress, with the top and hem framed in red with matching boots and gloves in black. To top it all off, she had a black choker with red velvet that had a small, golden pendant hanging from it. Her black hair was pulled out of her silvery eyes in two identical buns on either side of her head that flowed down into curling pigtails. Behind her pigtails were two miniature bat wings with red insides.

'_That... that girl almost looks like Mint-onee-chan!_' The girl gasped internally.

"You'll never have to go on any of these stupid family vacations ever again." Continued the gothic bat-girl, "You can always be happy. No siblings. No parents. No family. What do you say?"

"I'll go..." Whispered the girl in a trance as they faded into a chilling darkness.

"Nani? Where'd they go?" The girl gasped, running out from behind the tree. She quickly took out her cell phone and dialed in a number, "Moshi moshi? Akasaka-onii-chan, this is Ringo."

**To Be Continued... **


	5. Shark Infested Waters

**"The Darkness Beyond"**

**By Chocolate Wolfie **

Author's Note"Henshin-yo!" Means "Transform" Fuku means "Costume". And yes, I changed Berry's outfit from pale yellow to pale orange because Purin's outfit is already yellow. In the anime, the small rod Ichigo attaches to the Sutoro Bell Bell is called "Mew Berry Rod", since that is the name of Berry's weapon, I changed it to "Mew _Straw_berry Rod", fits better, doncha think?

**Chapter 5 **

**Shark Infested Waters **

"I don't like it!" Wailed Ichigo as she clung to Berry.

"Neither do I- but we have to go." Berry nodded.

The two girls stood, huddled together, at the base of the steps leading to the porch in front of the ominous, black door that was the entrance to the Konpaku family mansion. Lettuce calmly stood behind Zakuro, who was busy jiggling the door knob, pulling her coat ever tighter around her.

"It gets quite cold here at night for summers, ne?" She quietly inquired.

"Very cold." Ichigo said as she glanced behind her, beads of sweat gathering on her head.

"Very dark." Berry agreed, purple lines forming under one eye.

"VERY SCARYYY!" The two shrieked in unison.

"Would you two be quiet? I'm trying to concentrate!" Zakuro snapped irritably before going back to the job at hand, "Sometimes its just hard not having Mint here to scold those two... Masha! Can I get a light here?"

"Oh." Said Berry, releasing Ichigo, "Ryou needed to keep Masha at the lab. He finally returned Ucha, upgraded and ready to go!" The girl reached into her pocket and pulled out her little, pink cell phone covered in hearts. Hanging off the antenna was what appeared to be a small mascot of a strawberry with little wings and bunny ears as well as a face.

"R-2003 is upgraded and ready to go!" Squeaked the little creature as it floated over to the door, its eyes glowing to provide a light.

"Much better." Ichigo smiled, "Now at least I can see!"

Then came a loud noise in the forest. The girls all gasped, becoming ridged. There then came the unmistakable sound of rustling in the bushes and the _thud_ of heavy footsteps. The quartet stared into the velvety darkness, watching the ghosts of trees slowly sway. Suddenly, a dark shape shot from the bushes.

"GHOOOOOOOST!" Ichigo screamed, her black ears and tail popping out as she slapped her hands on her cheeks in an imitation of the painting "Panic".

The dark shape paused in the sky, silhouetted in the silvery moonlight, and then dashed down at the girls, landing on the porch.

"Who wants fries, na no da?" Purin asked, holding up a bag of fast food in each hand.

"Purin!" Cried Lettuce, "You nearly gave us a heart attack!"

"But I didn't, did I, na no da?" Asked the girl innocently as she shoved a handful of golden fries into her mouth. Lettuce sighed as a drop of sweat accumulated at her head before turning to Ichigo.

"Ne, Ichigo, are you feeling better? Ryou said that you were still feeling a bit queasy this morning..." Lettuce began.

"Screw him!" Ichigo snapped, "He was just over reacting! I had just eaten lunch and I thought that I MAY feel a bit sick and so he INSISTED that I go lie down. However, we were watching a really good movie on TV, so, he said to put my head down on his lap, but I said no and he said yes, and the whole time my dad was trying to challenge him to a duel and my mom was going on about how cute we were and I was so tired so I just put it there and-"

"Ne, Ichigo..." Berry whispered.

"Nani?" Ichigo snapped.

"Eh, Lettuce-chan asked if you felt better, not about you having your head on Ryou's lap." Berry muttered. Ichigo stopped and turned bright red.

"I... ano... um... er..." She stuttered.

"Here we are." Zakuro sighed in relief as the door creaked open, "My, its quite dark in here."

"Ah. Light please, Ucha." Berry said to the small, floating strawberry.

"Hikari (light)! Hikari!" Squeaked the robot as it floated into the building, shining light about the entrance room.

"Wuahhh!" Gawked Purin as she stepped in, looking about the room, "Its huge!"

The room itself looked as if you could give it a little dust, turn on the lights, and it would be ready for use. The floor was made of a beautiful black marble tile with matching black wooden-planked walls. A long, black table was propped up against a wall, covered in a thick veil of dust. As Ichigo and Berry approached, they closely studied the pictures placed upon it. On the left were two pictures, one of a girl with long, raven hair pulled into buns which flowed into curling pigtails, she was dressed in a black corset lined with red rubies with a matching, full black skirt tied with a red ribbon. Next to her was another girl, roughly seventeen. She was tall and elegant with her long, black hair pulled into a waterfall bun. She was dressed in a simple, black dress which went off the scolders.

In the very center of the table was a picture of the two girls with two adults, one male, one female. One the other side was a picture of the woman in the family portrait and the man from the portrait as well. The woman had her black hair cut short and curled, giving her face a heart-like appearance, and was dressed in a blue tank-top dress that was bunched below the hips and went down in to folded-over fabric. The man next to her was dressed in a pepper-gray suit with his black hair parted in the middle, he was smiling sincerely, as was his wife.

"Ne, does that girl look a bit like Mint to you?" As Berry, pointing to the picture of the girl in the black corset.

"Yes, it does. That's Aneko-sensei, I'm sure of it." Ichigo said, gesturing towards the photo of the elder girl, "So that means the girl who looks like Mint must be Kuro."

Purin wondered through the large home, gnawing at her beloved fries as she went. The girl turned around in a circle as she exited the entrance hall and found herself in a large ballroom. The floors were made of a beautiful, pinkish tile, and the walls were a beautiful, while sculpted wood with matching crown molding with large, tall French-style windows. Pressed up against these walls were long, elegant tables, topped with silk clothes worn only by time itself. Upon the silk clothes were large, silver platters and even a punch bowl.

"Looks like a party, na no da!" Purin cried as she pirouetted on one foot.

Meanwhile, Lettuce was having her own adventures while investigating the house. The olive-haired girl timidly pushed open a large door and stepped into a humongous library. The floors and walls were made of a rich, deep-colored wood, as well the as bookcases which covered the walls. The main highlight of the room was a large, wooden fireplace, on which a bust of Pallas had been placed. Lettuce shivered at the bust, remembering a poem similar to her situation in which the Greek goddess had been mentioned. The girl walked about the library, inspecting it closely, past ominous eagle-backed armchairs and placid tea sets placed on coffee tables.

Finally, Lettuce spotted something out of place. The girl migrated over to a small section of the library, in which a book was sticking out slightly. This was quite peculiar, as all the other books had been neatly pushed in. Lettuce walked over to the book and pulled it out. The girl blinked. The book itself had no title. lettuce turned it over. Still no title. The girl stared at the spot where she had pulled out the book and cocked her head.

"A door hinge?" Muttered Lettuce. The girl quickly pulled the small bookcase out of the way with a grunt of effort, and gasped with she found a flat, wooden door behind it.

The floor creaked below Zakuro as she travel through the upper hall, using the charm on her pendant as a light. The pinkish light glowed eerily in the dark house, casting strange shadows on the wall. Zakuro stopped as she heard the familiar sounds of sniffling. The tall, young woman with the pastel-purple tresses turned to her left and looked at a door. In silver, English letters, "_Kuro_" had been written on it.

"Ichigo? Berry? Purin? Lettuce?" Zakuro asked calmly as she pushed open the door. Instead, she found Kuro. The young girl was curled up on the ground, dressed in a gothic variation of Mint's mew fuku. Zakuro stared down at her with purplish blue eyes as hard as diamonds.

"Don't you see? You are not only causing pain for others, but pain for yourself." Zakuro stated harshly.

"SHUT UP!" Kuro screamed, pulling at her hair, "I can do WHATEVER-I-WANT!"

The girl wheeled around, and in a flash of red, was gone. In her place stood three young women, each of them roughly Kuro's age. They were all dressed in identical, black dresses, their hair pulled into two buns on either side of their heads.

"Destroy..." They uttered in one, long simultaneous voice. Zakuro flipped her pendant up in the air, and caught it in her hand, she then drew it to her lips and lightly kissed it.

"MEW MEW ZAKURO! METAMORPHOSIS!" Cried the young woman as her clothes disintegrated. Zakuro rested her hands on her navel, drawing them away. Below them, the injection mark around her belly button glowed bright purple. Waving her hands above her, Zakuro felt her brunette wolf ears form on top of her head. As she slowly spun, warm fires licked her body, forming her mew fuku. Rough fur brushed her legs where her tail had grown. The girl then leapt foreword, her violet eyes coruscating brightly, before flipping in the air and landing before the girls with a toss of her purple tresses as her tail swished behind her.

A purple apparition appeared in Zakuro's hand as she twirled it like a miniature baton before thrusting it before her and then up into the air. After twirling around, she raised the small staff into the air as it gathered energy, "RIBBON..!" She cried; a small jewel formed at the top of the staff as a golden bow-type decoration on it turned to the side, forming a cross. Zakuro held the staff above her head as it shone brightly, sending a beacon through the estate. Her eyes shone more brightly then ever as the cross-whip gathered more energy. Then, Zakuro thrust it foreword once more, crying, "ZAKURO SPEAR!"

The cross-whip produced a long, purple-glowing apparition of a whip as she lightly batted away the girls. Zakuro grasped at her pendant as the heart-shaped jewel on it flashed brightly, "Minnah! Henshin-yo!" She cried. All the girls looked down to their pendants as they received the stress signal.

"MEW MEW STRAWBERRY!" Ichigo cried after kissing her pendant, "METAMORPHOSIS!" A warm light shone in the girl as she extended from a ball-position into a standing-position. The girl ran her hands in front of her face, and then extended them outwards and then upwards before crouching into a turn as her boots and fuku formed on her. With a tiny _pop_, two garter-like sleeves, and a full, pink skirt appeared on the fuku. Turning around, the girl shook her rear as a black neko-tail formed on it, accompanied by a red bow with a golden bell. Extending out her hands, two cranberry-colored gloves formed on them before Ichigo pawed at the air in a catty way. As two neko-ears popped up onto Ichigo's now-pink hair, a bow with a small heart-shaped charm formed on her right wrist. The girl hopped backwards, raising her left foot into the air before lowering it down and reaching out with her right hand, a long, shimmering ribbon appearing on it. The ribbon, as well as Ichigo, whipped around until it reformed her pendant in a smaller form before she struck a catty pose.

"MEW MEW BERRY!" Berry cried, removing her pendant from her lips, "METAMORPHOSIS!" The girl crouched into a ball-like position as her clothing melted away before springing out of the position as she slowly revolved, one foot raised and her hands behind her. As she revolved, a pale orange corset bodysuit formed on her body, as well as a pale orange garter tied with a blood-orange ribbon and a pair of pale orange boots. Suddenly, the girl crouched down and then wiggled her rear as a white cat tail appeared on it, tipped with a blood-orange ribbon with a matching bell. As the girl sprang foreword with the accuracy of a cat, and grace of a rabbit, two, tight sleeves and a skirt popped into place. The girl extended her hands before her and drew them backwards as a pair of pale orange gloves appeared on them. As she opened her deep, amber eyes, two bunny ears popped out of her blonde head and wiggled about. Berry than leapt foreword and did an aerial spin, ending in a playboy-bunny-like pose.

"MEW MEW PUDDING!" Purin squealed before kissing her pendant, "METAMORPHOSIS!" The girl raised the golden pendant above her and drew it down to her forehead as it shimmered golden. Golden bands spiraled around the girl as she raised her hands above her head, crossing them and then pulling them away from each other as her fingertips gleamed. As she drew them downwards, two brown money ears replaced her normal ears. Two goldenrod-colored sleeves formed on her upper arms as bands twisted around them. The girl stuck her her right hand out to one side and as the bands wrapped around them, she opened her fingers, and the bands glowed golden-brown and settled in the form of a fingerless glove. After repeating the process with her left hand, the bands formed a halter body suit of goldenrod with a matching garter, all framed in golden-brown. Purin then bent over as a monkey tail popped out of the back of her fuku before rapidly spinning around, crouching into a ball, and then opening her arms and legs into a pose.

With the sound of a drop of water, Lettuce lightly kissed her pendant, "Mew Mew Lettuce!" She said as loud as she could with such a small, breathy voice, "Metamorphosis!" Lettuce closed her deep-blue eyes as she crossed her hands over her décolleté, once she removed them, her injection spot gleamed bright pink. The girl quickly revolved as she felt cool water rush around her, tightening at her legs to form boots, then her deep green bodysuit, small, puffy sleeves and garter. Letting out a contented sigh, two streamers of pale flesh floated from Lettuce's head and behind her. With a final turn and a clap of her hands, Lettuce raised one hand above her head, setting the other on her hip as the pale flesh coming from her forehead twisted around one another.

Once up the stairs, Ichigo wasted no time going into her own introduction. She crossed her left arm over her body, and brought both arms out into a spread eagle position. She then swung her arms to her left, "For the future of Earth," Ichigo raised her right hand over her head and placed her left hand right at her chest, creating a catty position, "At your service, nyan!"

The trio of gothicly-dressed girls didn't even seem the slightest bit perturbed, as they extended out their right arms long, ebony spears formed around them. "Destroy at the service of Kuro-sama."

"You-!" Ichigo fumed, her black ears pressed firmly to her pink hair, "Are you _mocking_ me?"

The only reply was the tree girls rushing foreword, each heading for a different mew. Berry sprang up into the air and leapt over one of the girls as she dodged towards her. The girl turned quickly on her heel as she raised her hand above her head, "Berry Rod!" She cried as a scarlet staff formed in her hand. It was tipped at the ends with strawberries, the one on the bottom the size of a regular strawberry, the one on the top enlarged roughly five times, with a band of gold around it. right below it, it was tied with a bow decorated with white rabbit heads and a small heart framed in gold, "RIBBON... LOVEBERRY-!" The girl sprang up over her gothic counterpart, "CHECK!" An array of scarlet, orange, and bellow heart-shaped bubbles sprang out at the girl, who simply caught the attack and backfired it.

"Eeep!" Squeaked the rabbit-ish girl as she twirled around in order to avoid her own attack, "Holeh crap! They're backfiring!"

"Well its about time they shouldn't be able to fire at all, na no da!" Cried Purin as she summon the Pudding Ring, kicking it up into the air and bending forward, using it to hit her rump in a childish way before the smaller, orange ring jumped from the middle and she caught it in her hand. Purin slapped the two together in a jingle of bells before rising them up on either of her sides, "RIBBON! PUDDING RING INFERNO!" The girl slammed the rings forward, causing a small energy blast which leapt at her opponents, surrounding them in a large, circular, pudding-like substance. The Pudding Ring trembled slightly for a split second- before bursting everywhere.

"Its time to take them down once and for all, minnah-san!" Ichigo cried as she whipped out the Mew Strawberry Rod. With a small _click_ she attached the power-up onto the back of the Sutoro Bell Bell as its golden wings spread out, a small tiara shimmering onto its head. The girl quickly crossed the bell over her wrist, where it resonated with her bracelet, sending a blast of energy into the room, causing her pink hair to fly upwards. "RIBBON! STRAWBERRY SURPRISE!" Beams of pink and light blue light shot from the bell as bubbles of the same colors erupted around the girls. The three cringed in slight fear of the attack before fading into a misty darkness.

"What were those things?" Lettuce asked as she stepped foreword, "Were they even human? Were they more aliens?"

"Its hard to tell." Zakuro sighed, "They can be anything. After what we've been through, I wouldn't even doubt that they were actual ghosts."

As the girls nodded and sighed, they began to head out of the room as Ichigo made a chocking noise, staring at the spot where the trio had just disappeared. "Guh!" The girl wheeled around, realizing that she was alone. "Ak! Wait for meeeeeeeee!"

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"According to Ucha's scan, these are actually humans. But there's an unreadable force protecting them." Ryou explained, a three-dimensional image of one of the girls revolving on the screen.

"So does it match anything we've seen before?" Asked Ichigo.

"I said _unreadable_, tardo." Snorted Ryou in reply.

"Other than the current, is there anything else relating to this?" Zakuro inquired as she rested her chin upon laced fingers.

"A young girl, age thirteen, disappeared while taking her dog on a walk." Akasaka stated, "As well as another who was fourteen that was out doing community service for being caught doing graffiti. Most recently, another girl disappeared just last night from her vacation house."

"More disappearances from young girls..." Lettuce whispered.

"Yes, and that's not all." Ryou said as he leapt off of a table where he had taken a perch, "Look at this-"

Scans of the three girls from the manor appeared on the screen, right next to what seemed like school photos of the tree missing girls.

"A perfect match, na no da!" Purin gasped, gaping at the screen as she pointed.

"But wait, there's more." Akasaka sighed, and then was interrupted by Berry.

"What? Do we win a free flashlight if we use our credit card?" The girl asked as the elder boy chuckled.

"No-" He grinned, "We had a call from Ringo-san, just after the disappearance. She described a girl that looked nearly identical to Mint-"

"That was Victoria." Zakuro said sternly.

"I figured as much." Ryou nodded.

"Yes- she described a girl that looked like Mint trying to suede the girl that disappeared from her vacation house into joining her. According to Ringo-san, they simply disappeared." Akasaka ended.

"So now she's kidnapping teenage girls and using them to do her bidding. Damn." Ichigo hissed.

"Kidnapping may not be the proper word." Akasaka sighed.

"What do you mean, na no da?" Purin piped in.

"More like hypnotism." Ryou groaned, "According to Ringo, it was like the girl was being hypnotized. Her eyes were glassy and she was talking in a dazed voice."

"How do we reverse the hypnotism?" Lettuce inquired lightly.

"We'll need a strong healing source, the only kind of which we've seen with the Mew Aqua." Akasaka continued with his tow-headed friend.

"But I thought all the Mew Aquas were gone..." Berry piped in.

"They are. But we have two sources that may be used for healing. The Strawberry Check was used to heal the animals and humans overtaken by the chimera animals, and the Apple Pop was used to heal the animals." Ryou explained.

"Yet Ringo-chan lost her powers when we took the Mew Aqua." Ichigo said as she snapped her fingers.

"Oh, and yes, we have another thing to tell you-" Akasaka grinned.

Suddenly, Ichigo felt somebody place their soft hands over her eyes as a voice cried "Guess who!" behind her.

"Ringo-chan!" Ichigo squealed as she wheeled around, though it wasn't a guess. Two black neko-ears popped up on Ichigo's head as she hurled herself on top of Ringo and proceeded to glomp her with all of her strength.

"Ichigo-nee-chan!" Ringo squealed in reply, "I've missed you so so much! You're even prettier than before!"

Ichigo beamed and held Ringo out at arms length. The once small girl had shot up several inches and had slowly began to develop definite curves around her body. The girl was dressed in a white tee shirt layered over a larger red one with a pair of matching white-wash jeans embroidered with green vines and apples on the upper left leg, "Oh, look at you! You're fricken all grown up!"

"Arigato! Arigato!" Ringo smiled as she bounced up and down before looking around, "Lettuce-nee-chan! You've gotten so pretty! And Purin-chan, you've gotten taller! Zakuro-nee-chan, you're just as beautiful as ever!"

After numerous hugs and compliments, even kisses for Ryou and Akasaka (on the cheek, of course) and an introduction to the infamous Berry; the girls quickly settled down and leaned in to hear about Ringo.

"Well, I just got in this afternoon. I'm staying in the extra room upstairs for as long as I have to. I really want to help you guys get Mint-nee-chan back, its just terrible what's been happening." Ringo said prior to giving a worried little sigh.

After everyone nodded in unison, Ichigo looked up, "So, Ringo-chan, how's your brother?"

"He's doing great." The girl grinned, "He's getting married at the end of the summer to his fiancé, she's a really nice girl named Natsu and they met on the island around last August."

"Oh! That's great!" Lettuce clapped.

"Are you going to continue to live on the island, na no da?" Purin asked, leaning foreword.

"No, actually. We're moving to Tokyo after they get married; they just recently announced this." Ringo explained.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but-" Everyone glanced to Zakuro, "Ryou said that the Apple Pop could heal... does this mean-?"

"Yeah." Ringo nodded with a small smile, "I'm goanna be a Tokyo Mew Mew again."

"Ringo-chan!" Gasped Ichigo, "Are you sure? This- I mean... you can _never_ go back! This is a big sacrifice!"

"Hey- once a Tokyo Mew Mew, always a Tokyo Mew Mew. I'd do anything for you guys." Ringo beamed as she grabbed Ichigo's hand.

"Oh, Ringo-chan!" Cried Ichigo as she reached out to smothered the girl in hugs, "You're so sweet! I just wanna hug you for ever!"

"So you're completely sure?" Zakuro asked as she arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah-" Ringo nodded, "Completely."

**To Be Continued...**


	6. Kuro no Nagasu

**"The Darkness Beyond"**

**By Chocolate Wolfie **

Author's NoteSorry for the long wait. Spring break is over and I have forty-eight more days of school left. After that its weekends and for the last week, we get to go to a fun dance, then to a theme park and graduate into highschool! I had a long week and my sister's boyfriend's mom just had a heart attack. :'( Its been a hard weekend for me so far. Anyway, in this chapter, we meet Berry's family. Tasuku, her boyfriend, refers to her as "Hime" or "Berry-Hime" which means "Princess".

**Chapter 6 **

**Kuro No Nagasu **

Kuro stood as still as a statue in the large, silent ballroom. Her silvery eyes glimmer faintly in a light that did not seem to exist in the real world. Outside, clouds, white and fluffy at the top, deathly gray at the bottom, rolled through the skies, baby blue peeking in between them with a glimmering hint of hope. Drops of rain from the storm earlier in the morning clung to the windows as twisting gray and golden light streamed through them, creating aquarian diamonds.

It all seemed like a feint wisp of a memory of a dream. She could feel the soft fabric of the fancy dress clinging to her upper body and brushing against her lower. Around her, the memory seemed to regenerate itself, people walked about the room, laughing and smiling; Kuro could see her mother, giggling with her old friends over cocktails and her father, roaring with laughter at a joke told by a business partner.

"Miss Kuro?" A voice asked in English. Kuro turned to see a young, American man with a round, boyish face and slightly messy brown hair; he smiled and bowed to her, "Moshi moshi."

Kuro giggled and bowed back, "'Moshi moshi' only for phone." She said in rough English.

"Oh! Sorry, I get those mixed up a lot. No wonder everyone was giving me weird looks all day when I greeted them; I probably looked like a complete idiot!" Laughed the boy.

Kuro smiled and nodded, "Okay." She said, pretending to understand.

"You'll have to excuse Kuro, she doesn't know much English." Aneko's voice drifted over, she smiled and clung to the boy's arm before kissing him on the cheek, "Kuro-chan? Have you met my boyfriend, Bryant? He came all the way from our boarding school in America to see us."

Kuro scowled at her sister, "I could care less about your dumb school." She sneered before stalking away. How _dare_ she embarrass her like that? Kuro was doing perfectly fine until _she _stepped in...

"Kuro-chan?" Her mother called from the other side of the room.

"_What_?" Snapped Kuro coldly, turning to her mother. The woman winced slightly and addressed her daughter in a soft tone.

"Would you be so kind to sing for us?" Smiled the woman.

"I don't _feel_ like singing anymore." Hissed the girl in reply, glairing at her mother.

"Oh, please? Just one last song?" Pleaded Kuro's mother. Kuro growled and looked to her toes for a moment before nodding angrily.

"One last song." Kuro whispered.

Mere moments later, the entire ballroom was gathered around Kuro as she stood by a black microphone stand set slightly in front of where the band for the party had been playing. Slowly, Kuro picked up the microphone.

"One last song." She repeated, once more in a whisper.

Kuro drew the microphone to her mouth as she took in a shuddering breath and let out one, long, chilling note. She slowly carried the note into a separate one, and another, and another.

"_As the darkness looms around you, kuro no nagasu form. Kuro no nagasu that roll down your cheeks into infinity. Your heart begins to bleed and you begin to scream, like nothing makes sense anymore; you are all alone, and nobody can save you from the kuro no nagasu._"

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"Are you sure that I wouldn't be intruding?" Asked Ringo quietly as Berry fidgeted with the lock on her door.

"'Corse. Its just me and Poppie. Besides, we never get any visitors, so we'd be glad to have you here with us." Berry grinned as she turned to her side and began to rummage through her purse.

"Here's your key, retard." Came a tiny voice as Ucha popped out of Berry's bag, her key in it's mouth.

"SHUT UP, YOU!" Berry howled as she snatched the key away from the smart-mouthed robot and jammed it into the keyhole.

"Oh, Berry-chan, welcome home!" Cried a cheerful voice as Berry's parent popped out from behind a corner. Dressed in a pale blue plaid apron over a light yellow work shirt, two short bangs of light brown hair pulled out of the face into pigtails, Shirayuki Kumi was the image of parental perfection. Kumi's face lit up at the sight of Ringo, "Oh! I see you've brought a friend over, is she from the cafe?"

"Yep!" Berry grinned, "We just met; The girls asked if she could board here. Akai Ringo, meet Shirayuki Kumi."

"Its nice to meet you Shirayuki-san." Ringo bowed.

"Such a polite girl!" Kumi grinned, bowing as well, "And you may call me Kumi. No formalities if you're going to be staying here."

"Thank you Kumi-san." Beamed Ringo.

"Anytime." And with that, Kumi was back in the kitchen.

As the two girls walked up the stairs, Ringo leaned over to Berry, "I though you said that you lived with your dad."

"Oh, um... I do." Berry blushed.

"Omigod!" Ringo gasped, "Gomen nasai! I'm so sorry!"

"No, its okay. Most people are shocked that my dad's gay. He and my mom were married for seven years before she found out; that's why they broke up." Sighed the tow head as if she had told the story a thousand times.

"Gomen. Its just so embarrassing for me." Ringo shook her head.

"I said its cool." Berry grinned as she pushed open the door to her room, "Sorry its so small. Purin's house is full of kids, Ichigo's house is big, but she didn't want to stress her mom out, Lettuce's parents are on vacation and I doubt you'd like to stay with Zakuro and the paparazzi."

Ringo giggled at her new friend's remark, "Oh yeah, why would Ichigo-nee-chan's mom be so stressed?"

"Well, her parents decided its time for them to have another baby." Berry rolled her eyes, "Both Ichigo and I are at a loss why they waited so long."

"Oh! I'll have to congratulate them later." Ringo nodded as she unloaded her things, "Where can I put my toiletries?"

"Right across the hall, in the bathroom." Berry directed.

"Arigato." Ringo smiled with a little bow before waltzing out of the room and across the hall. As she walked into the little room, her hand paused in front of the light switch. Ringo felt the hairs on the back of her neck begin to stand on end. Before she could inquire "Who's there?", Ringo felt a heavy force tackle her from the side.

"GUESS WHO'S BACK!" A male voice cried, and Ringo felt her face began to be smothered in kisses.

"Agh! Get offa me!" Ringo howled as she kicked and thrashed.

"Come on, Hime! Don't be such a stiff, I've been gone for almost three weeks!" The boy huffed as he kissed up Ringo's cheek and to her ear.

"I'm not-!" Ringo began, but was interrupted.

"What the hell is going on here?" Berry's commanding voice snapped as she clicked on the bathroom light. The boy laying on top of Ringo looked from the brunette to the blonde.

"Oops. Sorry, chick. Wrong girl." Said the boy, standing up. Ringo blinked as she studied him. He was about thirteen with a lean built- but not scraggly- body; dressed in gray flood pants and a black t-shirt that seemed to match his raven hair which feel over enticing dark-gray eyes. The younger girl felt a blush slowly creep onto her cheeks, knowing that this handsome young man had just been attempting to make out with her.

"Tasuku! How many times do I have to tell you to look before you le-!" Berry began to lecture, but Tasuku had already sprang off of Ringo and grabbed Berry by the wrists, pinning her to the bathroom wall, "Tas! No quit it- no it front of-!" Berry stopped abruptly as she squealed and giggled, her lips sliding gracefully over her boyfriend's. Tasuku finally released her arms as she entwined hers around his firm body, he then spun her around into a dip, so her blonde hair fell over Ringo's lap.

"Ringo-chan, this is Tasuku- quit it! That tickles!" Berry giggled as the raven-haired young man kissed her neck.

"Um... hi?" Ringo said it more as a question that a greeting. From what she could infer, Berry had a very... _eccentric_ life.

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With a rustle of black skirts, Kuro traveled through the halls of the large mansion in the dead of night. She could just see the way her stupid sister smiled and laughed as she met smart boys and accepted awards. The way her stupid mother giggled with her friends and showed Kuro off like an expensive outfit. The way her father would criticize her work and say she'd never get anywhere in life by singing.

That would all be over soon. Kuro gripped the cold knife tightly in her hand as as grabbed the doorknob and turned it, slowly pushing the door open. The sounds of somebody sleepily stirring caught her ear.

"Kuro-aka-chan, what is it?" Her mother's voice drifted towards her. Kuro stalked forward as she stopped in front of her parent's bed, illuminated in the pale moonlight.

"Kuro? K-kuro what are you holding?" Kuro slowly raised the knife above her head as it glinted in the light.

Aneko abruptly sat up in bed at the sound of distant screams. She threw off the covers laying over the lower half of her body and ran into the hallway. She spotted a dark form coming towards her.

"Kuro! Kuro-chan! Where are Okaa-san and Otou-san? Kuro, this isn't safe, we need to get out of here!" Aneko cried as she ran towards the girl. As she ran, Kuro raised her bloody knife, charging towards her elder sister. Before Aneko could register what was happening, Kuro took a flying leap, brandishing the knife above her head, and sticking it straight into Aneko's right eye. Aneko lay in shock as the deep red blood spurted out, streaming over her nightshirt; her mind reeling, not able to work. Kuro growled malevolently as she dug the knife in deeper, and with a horrific yanking motion, tore it out.

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A vein throbbed on Ringo's brow as Berry flopped over in her sleep for what seemed like the thousandth time. The tow head grumbled in her sleep, raising her hand and batting away at some imaginary force.

"I'ma turn ya inta... ramen... puffs..." She muttered in a discombobulated voice, "Ribbon, Love-" WHAM. Berry's hand smacked the wall with great force as she bolted upright in bed, gasping for breath, "What's going on? Where's that giant ramen cup?"

"You were having another nightmare." Ringo explained, her voice sounding agitated.

"No, it was real!" Berry cried, "It was under the shop. The midgets made it attack while they were rioting for chocolate."

"You defeated it." Ringo smiled, trying not to laugh at the ridiculous dream.

"I did?" Gasped the blonde.

"Yup."

"Oh, thank goodness." There was a soft _plop _as Berry fell back into her covers. Ringo sighed in relief. _Finally_, some peace and quiet...

"No... no... no..." Berry groaned, "Not _four_ eggs, _triangle _eggs."

"What's going on _now_?" Ringo growled to herself.

"Akasaka's trying to put purple bats in my ice cream." Berry huffed an unexpected reply.

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"So, are you finished?" Ichigo inquired as she craned her head over Ryou's shoulder. They boy growled as a vein throbbed at his forehead.

"What? Did you think we can magically poof Ringo into a Mew Mew? This is going to take _at least_ several days." Ryou snapped.

"Oh." Ichigo said as she wondered into a circle. Once completing it, she craned her head over Ryou's shoulder once more.

"_What-now_?" Hissed the blonde through gritted teeth.

"I just wanted to see what you were doin'." Commented the girl. Ryou sighed.

"I'm checking the DNA for any traits of physical or mental handicaps." Ryou explained as his fingered rapidly typed away.

"Ooo... sounds interesting." Ichigo said in awe.

"I doubt you would understand it. Now go away." Ryou snapped. Ichigo reared back up, stung.

"Well ex-_cuse_ me for trying to be nice Captain Faggypants!" She roared.

Ryou chocked, his eye twitching, "_What _did you just call me?"

"Captain Faggypants! Would you like me to spell it for you?" The girl screamed, stomping her foot.

"Why would you call me that?" Yelled Ryou, standing up.

"BECAUSE! All you ever do is walk around like you rule the world in your tight-little-faggy-PANTS!" Ichigo retorted, getting closer and closer to his face with every one of the last several words in her sentence.

Suddenly, the girl stopped dead in her tracks, a small blushed creeping onto her nose. They were so close...

Ichigo's heart hammered in her chest as she backed down, bowing her head in shame. "I'm sorry." She whispered in a barely audible voice, "That was uncalled for."

As Ichigo turned on her heel to walked away, Ryou grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around, wrapping his arms around her. Ichigo took in a tiny, shaky breath,.

"No, you were just teasing." Ryou sighed, "I'm the one that should be apologizing. Is there any way that I can make it up to you?"

"T-there is... one w-way." Whispered the girl as she reached up to him with trembling hands. It was like her mind was dead, so many thoughts pressing on that one thought, forcing it forward and out of her mind, into nearly involuntary actions. Ichigo felt tiny needles prick her eyes as their rims gathered with thick tears, which silently slid down her cheeks as she cupped Ryou's face in her hands, looking up to him.

"Don't cry." Whispered the young man as his hands slowly slid up her back to cradle her head, "I'm confused, too."

Ichigo nodded, sniffling.

"Can I kiss you?" Ryou asked calmly.

Ichigo briefly glanced down, before looking back up into his place blue eyes, closing her own misty-brown ones as she slowly neared him. Her heart squeezing tightly as tears rolled from her eyes, Ichigo felt her lips meet Ryou's soft warm ones. They broke away ever so briefly, before going in for a deeper one, their jaws moving, causing their soft lips to brush against one another. Ichigo sighed as Ryou lay her down on his desk, her arms moving across his cheek, towards his upper back. The girl parted her lips slightly, allowing Ryou's tongue to slide into her mouth.

As they slowly broke away, Ichigo wiped tears from her eyes, "I will NEVER call you gay again."

Ryou chucked softly as he lifted the girl back up and sat down on his computer chair, placing her on his lap. It was his turn to lean back as she once again gathered his face in her hands, their mouths moving quicker as they pressed against each other. Ichigo finally slowed down and moved her head to his chest, her tears completely gone.

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Kuro dropped to her knees in the large ballroom. Her eyes were wide with disbelief and her hands were shaking. The girl drew the blood-covered knife up to her face; proof enough that they were all dead and gone.

But it wasn't enough.

Why was she the only one who had to suffer? There were plenty of others out there who had perfect lives that they completely took for granted. If she suffered; they would suffer.

"Using the knife which I killed my problems, I'll kill my other problems as well. They are _all_ my problems." Kuro leaned back, ignoring the fiery pain in her upper legs as she gripped the knife with both hands, slowly pressing it between her breasts. The sting from the tiny wound greatened as she pushed the knife in further, the mouth of the wound widening. Kuro drew in shaker breaths, spewing dark blood which fell over her bare décolleté and over her black bodice. Her silver eyes began to take on a pinkish tint, which soon deepened into a vivid red. Slowly, the girl leaned completely backwards, her back resting on her legs in a sick contortion, here eyes fading back to silver staring blankly at the ceiling.

Suddenly, there came a clattering of footsteps as Aneko stumbled into the room, pressing a bloodied bed sheet to her eye. "Kuro! Kuro!" She cried as she dropped to her sister's side, the wail of sirens floating around from outside, "Kuro! Why? WHY?"

The girl's scream stretched and tore at her throat as it echoed through the empty halls.

Several hours later, two policemen stood outside of the large, dark home.

"So, what do you think happened?" Asked the first with a sigh.

"The survivor claims her sister stabbed her after stabbing her parents. Her sister appeared to have committed Suicide when she found her." The second groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"That's a shame. My wife went to highschool with the father, they were good people. Especially their older daught-" The man paused, blinking his eyes.

"What's the matter, Wantanabe?" The second man asked.

"Thought I just saw someone looking down at me from that window for a second there." The first man shook his head, "Let's get going. I want to get back to Miharu."

Kuro glared down at the two men from the perch in her room. So, her sister had survived? Well, she couldn't have that... but it was a relief knowing most of the burden was off her back... with her own personal problems, that is.

The spirit girl grinned to herself and continued out of her room, fading from vision, and reappearing in the large library. With a wave of her hand, a bookcase moved out of her way, and she walked up to a hidden door.

As visions from the past faded, Kuro found herself staring hard at the door, unexplained noises coming from the door. She slowly turned and disappeared as she did sol Lettuce walking into the room, alone. She walked to the bookcase where she had found the hidden door and pulled it out of the way, her face screwing up with effort. The young teenager than ran her hand down the length of the flat, wooden door. Right when she had found it, Zakuro had contacted her, leading to a fight. But still, that was no excuse for not telling anyone about the door. She sighed and pushed open the lone door, stepping in.

Lettuce looked about the small room, relieved and confused at the same time. It appeared to be nothing but a small desk made with black wood, with its back to a tall bookcase. In all honestly, she had been expecting some sort of Occult ritual room or torture chamber. The girl traveled over to the bookcase and plucked out a book with a heavy brown-leather cover, which read "The Darkness Beyond".

"Do you like it? Its my favorite."

Lettuce, gasped, twirling around as Kuro sauntered into the small, hidden room, her black pigtails fluttering behind her, "G-gomen. Onigai... I don't want to fight."

"I was guessing that." Kuro nodded grimly as she took the book from Lettuce with a sigh.

"Onigai... can we have or friend back?" Asked the girl timidly.

Kuro barked with laughter, plopping down into a chair, "Gomen, but it doesn't work that way, tootse." She grinned, "Besides, I need Mint."

"Why?" Lettuce inquired, spreading out her arms, "Why do you do such horrible things?"

"Because I can-" Kuro closed her eyes, facing upwards, "And I do." She opened her silver eyes slowly as they came to rest of Lettuce; whom bowed her head and shook it.

"No. That's not right. You don't have to do these things." The girl with the olive-colored hair said, clasping her hands, "You never have to hurt people."

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW?" Roared the ebony-haired girl, her eyes flaring red.

"I know plenty!" Lettuce cried, her blue eyes large and serious, "I _know_ you don't have to hurt people, Kuro! This isn't what you want!"

"SHUT UP!" Screamed the girl, slamming her hands over her ears, "YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT IS!"

"Onigai-listen to me! It isn't right for you to hurt people, just because it isn't fair! Many, many people have come to knew that life isn't fair Kuro! And this isn't even life! This is _death_, Kuro! You need to let it go!" Lettuce continued, throwing her arms out in front of her.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Kuro howled, throwing a fist at the wall; dropping her book in the process. Lettuce grimly bent down and picked up the book, clasping it to her chest.

"You're living a lie. Please believe that." She whispered, and left the room.

Kuro's frustrated, blood-curdling scream followed soon afterwards.

**To be Continued...**


	7. The Darkness Beyond

**"The Darkness Beyond"**

**By Chocolate Wolfie **

Author's NoteSorry for the big pause in-between updates. Please blame school, Kingdom Hearts, and procrastination. My mind is so crowded I can barely- Stalin was the person that started the Ukrainian genocide- keep my train of- he killed over 7 million people, 3 million of which were children- thought. XD Just as this is happening, I am hell bent on defeating Kingdom Hearts (about 33 hours through for about three weeks of playing it) and my evol little muse is throwing fan fic ideas like you can't believe. At this point, I'm surprised I haven't developed ADD. Just for a side note, I first thought Berry's outfit was pale yellow, so I turned it into pale orange because Purin already had a yellow outfit- but it turns out Berry's outfit is white, so it will be white from now on. Phew! Now I must go onto my Playstation and get a seizure from playing so much!

**Chapter 7 **

**The Darkness Beyond**

Lettuce set the heavy book down on her desk and plopped down on the chair in front of it, her hand lightly brushing the cover. What was this book, anyway? The girl with the green tresses turned the cover and several blank pages. On one page, bold text read:

**THE DARKNESS BEYOND**

Lettuce flipped the page and leaned in to the book, entranced by its words.

"_The Darkness Beyond, a world which does not exist here, or there. It simply exists. The Darkness Beyond is a complex series of enchantments to make your life perfect. Please, only use if you have any mortal enemies or nuisances you wish to rid of-_"

Did Lettuce have any mortal enemies? Why of coarse! There were those girls at school, her teachers, the aliens, Ichigo...

Yes... Ichigo.

Lettuce stood up abruptly, her fingers gripping the book so tightly, it turned her knuckles white. '_Ichigo!_' She though angrily, '_How DARE she steal MY Ryou! I'll make her pay!_'

"MEW MEW LETTUCE! METAMORPHOSIS!" Lettuce cried, and in a burst of cool water, she stood in her green fuku, the Lettuce Castanets at her disposal. Suddenly, the small green and golden weapons began to glow and Lettuce dropped to her knees.

"W-wh-what happened?" The girl asked herself, "What was I thinking?

"Onee-chan? Are you okay?"

Lettuce's face turned deathly pale as she recognized the voice of her brother, Kaisou. Whipping around, they two became locked in each other's line of vision.

"O... onee... chan?" Kaisou stuttered, taking a step backwards as his green eyes widened.

"Kaisou-otouto-chan-! I- I can explain!" Stuttered the girl as she took a step backwards, putting her arms out in her defense.

"Y- you're _actually_ Mew Lettuce?" Gasped the boy, his eyes wide.

Lettuce nervously glanced from side to side, "H-hai." She whispered, bowing her head in self-disgust.

"Amazing!" The boy burst out, causing Lettuce to jump.

"Ne?" Lettuce asked, cocking her head.

"All the evidence pointed to it- from the similar appearance to the voice to the name! Okaa-san and Otou-san said it was just a coincidence- but they were wrong!" They youth's eyes lit up as he stuck a pose of triumph, "Wait until they hear that I proved them right-!"

"No! Onigai! You mustn't!" Gasped Lettuce nervously, "Onigai, onigai! Onigai don't tell!"

"If its that important." Shrugged they boy, "I don't see what they big deal is- you could be a star!"

Lettuce's face paled at the very thought. She then shook herself out of the trance and placed her castanets on top of the book, clasping it to her chest, finally crossing the room and opening the window.

"Onee-chan, where are you going?" Asked Kaisou timidly.

"I have to take this book to Shirogane-san right away." Lettuce explained breathlessly, "Its not safe. This may be the key-"

"The key to what, Nee-chan?" Kaisou interrupted.

"Gomen nasai, its too complicated to tell you right away. I have to go, now." Lettuce put one leg up on the window ceil.

"Ma'te!" Her younger brother interrupted.

"What is it Otouto-chan?" Asked Lettuce, glancing back.

"What about me? You promised Otou-san and Okaa-san you'd stay with me all weekend- and you already left while I was at Haruko's house!" The boy cried.

Lettuce nervously bit her lip and climbed down, handing the book to her younger brother, "Can you hold onto this very _very_ tight?"

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"Mint-imouto-chan..."

Once more, Zakuro found herself back at the church. It was hard to believe how little she was doing with her time. Instead of franticly searching for Mint, here she was, worrying and praying, as if nothing could be done.

"Something ales you, Zakuro-san?" A familiar voice asked.

Zakuro spun around to face a nun standing behind her; at first, the towering figure clothed in blue was unrecognizable, but as soon as Zakuro saw the gauze-covered lens of her thin-rimmed glasses...

"Aneko-sensei?" Zakuro gasped lightly.

"Oh! Gomen! You didn't know." Aneko blushed, "The hospital is funded by our church; and I work there for a living when I'm not here. So, is something the matter?"

"A dear friend of mine-" Zakuro sighed as she looked up to see the crucifix, hanging above the alter, the dim lights of the church shone upon it, casting an unearthly light, "Recently has turned up missing. I know that I can help find her, but I always turn up here." Zakuro chuckled softly, "Isn't it funny of how us humans are all the same? We only ask God for forgiveness when we need forgiveness. We only ask God for help when we need help. I am selfish. I only come here when I need to reflect and when I need to-"

Zakuro glanced out at one of the side doors with a heavy sigh. Aneko smiled gently.

"Come along, Zakuro-san. Let's go on a stroll." Said the woman softly as she headed for the back door. Zakuro silently nodded and followed as Aneko pushed open the door, walking in the back of the church.

Bright, golden light shone around the large courtyard, casing large, long shadows to stretch under Zakuro and Aneko, as well as the tall, dark figures looming around the courtyard.

"Which is yours?" Aneko asked softly.

As if Zakuro had memorized the very path she took, she weaved through the dark figures and finally came to rest at one. To her surprise, Aneko chuckled.

"Funny how life works out, ne, Zakuro-san? These are mine." The nun quietly gestured towards two, large gravestones right beside the one Zakuro was standing at.

Zakuro sighed and nodded before looking up to the stars; silvery pinpricks in the black, velvet blanket that was the night sky. It was said that the light from these stars took many years to travel... so were these the stars he and she had looked up to all those years ago, wondering what lied beyond them, in the fathomless stretch of space that was the universe?

"Don't feel selfish."

Zakuro turned her head to Aneko, who was looking hopefully up at the same stars; the opposite at the melancholy Zakuro looked up to them with, "As long as you're a good person and you do good things, God will bless you in many ways. And he will help guide those lost to you; be it through obstacles or into waiting arms of loved ones passed. Some think that 'The Lord givith and the Lord taketh' means God only gives and takes. I, personally, do not believe that. The Lord does not take; by 'taking' things away from you, God is only giving you strength."

Zakuro blinked and looked back up to the stars, this time with awe, as her eyes widened and she began to understand.

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Though not as agile as any of the other girls from Tokyo Mew Mew, and that her element was water, Lettuce still moved with precision and grace as she swam through the air. Kaisou clung tightly to her back, his arms twisted around her neck. Pressed tightly between Lettuce and her younger brother was the heavy, black-leather book.

"Nee-chan, are we there yet? My eyes are watering!" Complied the boy, blinking away tears.

"We're nearly there, please, just hold on." Lettuce said breathlessly as she leapt to the top of a small building, springing up from that, she landed on the soft grass, setting her brother down as they ran alongside each other, the boy hurrying to put his glasses back on as he attempted to keep up with his elder sister.

"Wait- we aren't going to that little, _pink_ shop, are we?" Kaisou inquired as Lettuce ran along. When she merely sped up and didn't reply, Kaisou sighed and forced himself onward, "Apparently so."

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"Um... that would be oatmeal cookies with orange glaze." Ryou recited after swallowing the cookie, his eyes squeezed shut.

"Okay, let's see if you can guess this one..." Ichigo grabbed a piece of pie off of a tray next to her and swiped up some of the filling with her pinky finger, pressing it to Ryou's lips.

"K'so. Eto... is it... chilled butternut squash?" He inquired.

"Nope. Pumpkin pie." Ichigo grinned, "Now how about this one?"

The girl leaned foreword, pressing her lips to his. Ryou broke away and smiled, opening his icy blue eyes, "That would have to be a fresh strawberry."

"No fair! You peeked!" Ichigo protested.

"But I still get second prize, don't I?" Grinned the boy, cupping Ichigo's cheek as she falsely pouted.

"No way! You got your kiss, cheater!" Smiled Ichigo with finality.

"Awe, not even a little one?" The boy asked timidly.

"Nope!" The redhead ended with a pop of her lips.

"Then _I'll_ kiss _you_!" Ryou grabbed Ichigo around the waist and dipped her back as she giggled and squirmed in false protestant.

"Shirogane-san!" Lettuce cried in her soft voice as she sprinted into the room, "You have to take a look at this b-"

Ryou and Ichigo glanced up in mid-kiss, before breaking away, flustered.

"What is it, Mew Lettuce, who is this boy?" Ryou asked, standing up and Ichigo climbed off of his lap.

"I'm her brother, Midorikawa Kaisou!" The boy bowed.

"You told your brother, Lettuce?" Ryou asked, looking to Lettuce with urgent eyes.

But Lettuce merely stood there, trying not to blink, as a thick shield of heavy water had just gathered in front of her eyes. Ichigo cocked her head, concerned, "Lettuce-chan, daijobu?" The inquired. Lettuce simply stood there, and slowly shook her head. She would not blink and she would not talk. Either would give away her position.

But, alas, the tears were becoming heavy on her emerald eyes and her vision, once so precise, blurred. She blinked, her very breath quavering, as fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Lettuce!" The three others cried in unison as she turned on her heel and ran off.

"Onigai, leave me alone!" Lettuce sniffled as she ran.

"Oh, Lettuce!" Ichigo cried, running after her friend, but Ryou held her back.

"Let her be. Someone will find her." He said softly.

"Ryou-kun, how could you be so cruel?" Ichigo inquired, spinning around.

"No, honestly. _Someone will find her_." Ryou repeated.

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Lettuce sat on top of the cold, white, porcelain toilet in the women's room, her knees pulled up to her chest as she sniffed, hiccupped, and trembled. Why was it that every time she found somebody to love, they always ended up having someone else? It didn't seem fair...

Yet, Lettuce of all people was one who could understand that life wasn't always fair; having been cruel to her many times, such as causing her to be shy and hard to make friends with, gullible, naive, and constantly flustered. But why did it have to be her that ended up like this, always, _always_?

"Lettuce-san, daijobu?" Came a soft voice as somebody tapped on the door. Lettuce sighed as she realized it was Akasaka. At least he wouldn't bother her.

"Come in." Lettuce whispered as she wiped away the tears with the back of her hand.

Akasaka walked into the small bathroom and knelt in front of Lettuce, even though there were barely any left, her wiped away the leftover tears on her with a small hanky; this was more of a sign of comfort and consoling than it was to clean her face.

"My, my. I thought I would never have to wipe a young lady's face clean ever again after I broke up with Rei-san." The young man commented gently as he put away the cloth and propped Lettuce up off of the toilet seat, guiding her into the main room. After arranging a small table, her pulled out a chair as Lettuce sat down, and then sat across from her, leaning in on his elbows, his chin rested on folded hands. Lettuce took in a deep breath and let out a long, sad sigh.

"Now, what is the matter, Lettuce? I doubt I've ever seen you in despair." The brunette inquired gently.

Lettuce felt herself shrink into her seat, tears silently sliding down her cheeks, "I'm too embarrassed." She muttered.

"That's alright, you can take as long as you want." Akasaka said gently, but at the same time, letting her know she wasn't going to get off that easily. There was a short pause of silence and Lettuce let out a long, shuddering breath.

"I went to the house by myself and I went into a secret room I had found, hidden behind a bookcase. I talked to that girl- Kuro- and I took the book I brought here. When I read it, it made me get mad at Ichigo and Shirogane-san, so I transformed. Then I realized what I was doing and I brought it here- and I- and I-" Large tears gathered in the green-haired girl's eyes as she gave a long, tormented sob, "And I walked in to them kissing. Its so embarrassing... but I've liked Shirogane-san for a long time now. Once, while we were in the sea, I gave him a breath of oxygen because he was drowning. And I've... I've always thought of that as our secret kiss. I've always thought he liked me... but I've just assumed until now. He started to like Ichigo-san and... and... one thing came to another and now they're a couple. I know I missed out because I'm so shy and no guys ever like that, and because I never assert myself to tell them my true feelings."

"I see." Akasaka nodded, "Well, that's perfectly fine Lettuce. When I was your age, I was always very shy with girls. I was in science club, and they all made fun of me- so I never tried to get them to notice me, goodness, I would hide from them in the bathroom during lunch."

Lettuce blinked, "_You_?" She gaped.

"Yes, I would hide because I was so shy and quiet- afraid of being ridiculed." Akasaka said with a small grin of nostalgia, "But Lettuce- it wasn't all that bad for me- it became better. Now, is the situation all that bad for you?"

Lettuce blinked, looking upwards with a deep, sad sigh. There were plenty of people out there less fortunate than her. Like Aneko, for example. She had lost her entire family to Kuro, and now had nothing but dark memories...

The girl's eyes slowly widened, "It isn't... that bad..."

She remembered how Kuro had overreacted to her, compared to how calmly Aneko had told the story. "It isn't that bad!" She gasped, suddenly standing up. "Arigato Akasaka-onii-chan! Arigato gozimasu!" Cried Lettuce as she ran across the large room and burst through the door in a leap of adrenaline.

Akasaka blinked several times in confusion, brushing a strand of brunette hair out of his dark, handsome eyes, "I'm glad I could help." He said quietly to himself. As soon as Lettuce had left the Cafe, Ryou came running up from the attic, his icy blue eyes vivid.

"Keichiiro! You gotta come have a look at this!" He cried as Akasaka stood up suddenly with an urgent nod. The two ran down the basement stairs, past Ichigo and Konpaku, nearly throwing themselves at the computer.

"It seems that the book is surrounded by the same force around those three girls." Ryou explained as he typed away, "When I picked it up-"

"Lettuce told me it made you think negative thoughts." Akasaka nodded.

"Basically." Ryou said, nodding as well, "It means that this book must be controlling those girls."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lettuce panted heavily as she ran, pushing her legs to her maximum speed as they burnt and ached with the flames of access movement. How could she be so bleak as to not realize this? The book had no dark powers of the other world, it didn't have any spells or charms cast with age, it didn't even have the power to control human beings. The only power the book had was to alter the mind, to blow things severely out of proportion. If Kuro hadn't gotten a hold of that book, nothing would've happened; she would've spent her entire life with a happy family doing normal things.

It was up to Lettuce to show her that.

The green-clad Mew Mew took a flying leap to the top of a traveling bus, collapsing to one knee as she attempted to catch her breath. In the cold chill of night, she wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes, squeezing away tears. It had been the same power that had corrupted Kuro that had gotten to Mint. Obviously, once one person was infected, it could spread to others. Not always in the same way as Kuro had, lashing out in anger; but in ways that could effect the individual, such as anxiety in Mint's case.

Maybe, just _maybe_. Lettuce could find a way to reach both girls. And she could get one of her best friends back to normal.

But she couldn't do it alone.

Slowly but surely, Lettuce's hand traveled up to her pendant, pressing it softly, initiating contact mode.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_Please meet me at the house, I think I may have a lead._" Lettuce's muffed voice called from Zakuro's pocket. The girl removed the flashing pendant and squeezed it slightly.

"Now that you know the situation, do you still think I'm not selfish?" She uttered darkly.

"I do not support what you wish to do... but... I do believe its the only way... a-and its not selfish. Its completely selfless. A great many sacrifices you must make in your lifetime Zakuro-san. A great many things you must give up for the better interest of others." Aneko said, nearly whispering.

"Then I shall do what I must." Zakuro declared, "MEW MEW ZAKURO! METAMORPHOSIS!" Zakuro glanced back at Aneko as she entered a wall of scarlet flames. Upon emerging, the flames seemed to stick to her body, releasing only the farther away she got, last last dissipating with a swish of her tail.

**To Be Continued... **


	8. To Sin

**"The Darkness Beyond"**

**By Chocolate Wolfie **

Author's NoteGomen nasai! I'm really sorry for the long break in-between updates. We had testing an entire week in school, and I had two huge projects due, not to mention I was on vacation with my daddy a couple weekends ago. Also, I'm correcting myself. Purin's name is actually Pudding in the anime. So now I'm getting all confuzzled, so I must change her name back to Pudding. Daaaahhh... XP

**Chapter 8 **

**To Sin... **

"Can't I help do anything?" Ringo asked urgently as the hovered over Ryou and Akasaka.

"At this point in time? No." Ryou huffed as he shook his head.

"You need not worry." Akasaka sighed, "By the looks of it; this won't be the end. Without your healing powers we can do little or nothing. The best be can do is try to reason with her." The brunette man cast a wry glance at the dark, leather book, "And chances are, that will have little effect as well."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Like dark, yet heavenly beings, five Mew Mews stood tall and brave, their shadows stretched beyond them in the silver-blue light.

"Kuro-san! Onigai come out! We just want to talk to you!" Lettuce cried in desperation towards the house.

"Well, well, well... the little fish came back... and she brought the koneko, the bunny, the koinu, and the monkey. Priceless." Kuro's voice drifted towards them as she moved towards them from the shadows the trees in front of the house cast down onto the ground. But she seemed to have changed. The girl was not in the black and red-tipped fuku sickeningly similar to Mint's, but had now changed into the black corset with the matching ballroom skirt that she was seen wearing in the picture in the entrance hall. Her hair was no longer in twin buns, but was down with her bangs pulled out of her eyes in a little puff; eyes that had seemed to gain several shades of red, turning them the color of dark wine. The most noticeable thing about her was that, on the right side of her head, a white streak had appeared in her ebony hair, fluttering in a ghost-like way in the gentle, summer wind.

"Kuro-san... onigai, believe me when I say this... that book... it possesses a power to toy with the mind and to force people to throw things out of proportion." Lettuce explained. Kuro scoffed.

"The book holds no power over me. " She sniffed with a toss of her ebony tresses, haunted by the streak of white, "I learned to control the ancient power of the book, and then turned it on others. I could only do that by killing my enemies-"

"NO!" Berry cried, "They weren't your enemies, they were your _family_! The people who cared about you the most in the whole wide world! The people who would love you the most in your whole lifetime." The usagi-girl clad in white clasped her be-gloved hands to her chest and closed her eyes, slowly shaking her head as soft white tresses floated around it, "Loosing a family member is the hardest thing ever. Its like when there's a tooth missing. Your tongue keeps going to the spot where it was, but there's nothing there but sore, tender gums... You keep going to where your loved ones rooms were..." The girl shut her eyes, remembering the scene: her and Tasuku as small children, standing in the doorway of the one-room apartment her mother had moved into after breaking up with her father, Berry had thrown herself to her mother's futon and sobbed her heart out, knowing her mother had been there less than a day ago, alive and well, but when she had risen from that futon in the morning, she had never known that on an average drive to work... "BUT WHEN YOU GET THERE, YOU KNOW THAT THEY'RE GONE! THAT THEY'RE NEVER EVER COMING BACK! YOU CAN'T JUST KNOW THAT THEY'RE DEAD, THAT YOU KILLED THEM, AND BE... BE... **_HAPPY_** ABOUT IT!" Berry screamed at the top of her lungs, tears falling rapidly from her deep amber eyes, "NO! YOU CAN'T! ITS SICK AND ITS WRONG! I KNOW YOU HAVE A HEART! I KNOW YOU LOVED THEM! I KNOW THEY LOVED YOU! WHY, _WHY_, **_WHY_** CAN'T YOU SEE THAT?"

"Berry-chan..." Ichigo whispered, putting her hands on her best-friend's shoulders, as the white mew continued to sniffle and shake.

Kuro stared at the girl in tears. She blinked... and took a step backwards. Her mind was reeling. Flashes of the past were hitting her mind at random; scenes soared before her eyes-

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The girl angrily stalked into the ballroom, glaring as people seemed to avert their gaze from her as she stormed her way through the party. People walked about the room, laughing and smiling; she glared at them, they were all so idiotically blissful. Kuro could see her mother, clucking with her old friends over cocktails like an idiot hen and her father, roaring with laughter at a joke told by a business partner like the stupid ass-kisser he was.

"Miss Kuro?" A voice asked in English.

"What do you want?" Kuro sneered turned to see a young, American man with a round, boyish face and slightly messy brown hair; he smiled and bowed to her, "Moshi moshi."

Kuro laughed loudly and rudely, "Only on phone, idiot." She said in rough English.

"Oh! Sorry, I get those mixed up a lot. No wonder everyone was giving me weird looks all day when I greeted them; I probably did look like a complete idiot!" Laughed the boy.

Kuro snorted, "Whatever."

"Sorry about him. He doesn't know you that you don't speak much English." Aneko's drifted over to the scene, she smiled and clung to the boy's arm before kissing him on the cheek, "Kuro-chan? Have you met my boyfriend, Bryant? He came all the way from our boarding school in America to see us, he was very interested in meeting you."

Kuro gave her elder sister a seething glare, "I could care less about your 'effin school." She sneered before stalking away. How _dare_ that bitch embarrass her like that? That stupid boy was the one she should've been scolding. Aneko was always trying to hint to Kuro that she was better in school than her in any way she could.

"Kuro-chan?" Her mother called from the other side of the room.

"What the _hell_ do you want?" Snapped Kuro coldly, turning to her mother. The woman winced slightly and addressed her daughter in a soft tone.

"Would you be so kind to sing for us?" Smiled the woman, caressing her daughter's cheek with a loving touch

"I don't _feel_ like singing anymore, you stupid bitch!" Kuro half-yelled in reply, glairing at her mother as she forcefully slapped away her hand.

"Oh, please? Just one last song?" Pleaded Kuro's mother, her eyes still soft and loving. Kuro growled and looked to her toes for a moment before turning to her side and flipping over a chair. Her mother gasped slightly, recoiling in fear.

"You want one last song?" Screamed the teen, her face red, "You fucking got it!"

Everyone in the ballroom watched as Kuro made her way from the ground, her hair becoming flyaway as she shoved people out of the way, not caring who or what got hurt. Kuro paused at the small area where the band was and grabbed the nearest microphone.

"One-last-song." She hissed through gritted teeth, and opened her mouth to sing...

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kuro looked stunned, as if somebody had randomly walked up to her and punched her in the face. The girl took a step backwards and fell onto her knees. Her eyes deepened from dark red to pitch black, her pupils disappearing in a sea of ebony.

"Look at her, na no da!" Mew Pudding gasped, "What's the matter with her?"

"I-I don't know..." Ichigo whispered as she cradled Berry.

"M-maybe..." Pudding stuttered, "Maybe she needs more encouragement, na no da!"

Carefully, the girl dressed in the goldenrod halter top moved foreword towards Kuro, the girl blankly staring into space, as still as a statue.

"Be careful, Mew Pudding." Zakuro hissed in a warning.

Pudding merely nodded in reply as she knelt down in front of Kuro, "Kuro-san... do you think what Berry-chan said was true?" Mew Pudding asked in a soft voice, the same kind of voice her mother used to use with her when she was sad or confused. The ebony-haired girl simply stared with completely black eyes beyond Pudding, unblinking. Pudding reached out with a single hand partially covered with a brown, fingerless glove and set in on Kuro's shoulder, "Does Kuro-san miss her Okaa-san?" Pudding inquired; Kuro continued to stare. "Kuro-san... must miss her Otou-san, too." Pudding sighed sadly, "I don't know what its like to miss both a mama and a papa. My mama is missing though, just like Berry-chan's Okaa-san. I know you miss your Okaa-san very, very much. And I know it hurts. It hurts right here..." Purin said, quoting her favorite manga character as she placed her hand over her heart, "You can't let the pain take over, Kuro-san. I was very said when my mama died, and papa was so sad that he left the country. My Otouto-chans and my Imouto-chan missed our mama very much, but I couldn't let them be sad. I had to be strong for them. Its what my mama would've wanted." Pudding threw her arms around Kuro, "And I know its what your Okaa-san would've wanted, too Kuro-san! Please don't feel sad! Its okay to cry! Just please don't feel sad and continue to hurt others! We really want Mint-onee-chan back, and we want you back, too, Kuro-san!"

Kuro's head suddenly snapped back as she let out a blast of ebony energy. Pudding let out a shrill scream, knocked backwards by the blast. Lettuce quickly ran to her rescue, but not before Zakuro caught her and placed her safely at the base of a tree. The wolfish girl then leapt into the black energy, her cross whip bared in front of her, as to keep the energy from hurting her.

"Zakuro! What are you doing?" Ichigo cried as she ran after the eldest Mew Mew, she soon collided with the energy blast and was thrown back; however, she flipped backwards in the air and landed gracefully on her feet.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

As the others watched from home base, Ryou leapt up in anger and shock, "What is she _doing_?" He barked in anger as he slammed his fist down on a button to communicate Zakuro.

"ZAKURO!" He yelled in anger, "What are you doing! You're putting the entire mission in danger! You-"

"I'm doing what I have to do if we want Mint to be safe." Zakuro replied softly before the connection was terminated.

"No..." Ryou whispered, cold shock in his eyes of blue ice, "No..." He repeated softly, "NO!" Ryou suddenly turned on his heel, Masha trailing along behind him.

"R2000!" Ryou demanded, Masha chirped in reply, "Initiate emergency hyper speed."

"Initiating! Initiating!" The pink puffball chirped, "Hyper speed in go... yon... san... ni... ichi..."

There was a loud bang as Ryou disappeared, leaving Konpaku and Ringo blinking in surprise.

"I don't remember Masha being able to do that last time..." Ringo commented.

"Part of Masha's new software." Akasaka explained; but his voice was anything but the calm, gentle voice he usually spoke with. His eyes looked wide and vivid, "I just hope Zakuro-san isn't trying to do what I think she may be trying to do..."

Ringo blinked worriedly, "I don't know what you're talking about..." She closed her eyes, "But I think that I may have an idea..."

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"Sutoro Bell Bell!" Ichigo cried, the heart-shaped bell appearing in her hand before she clicked the Strawberry Rod into place. She forced herself foreword into the energy blast a barrier of pink defending her the entire way. "Ribbon! Strawberry Surprise!" She called out as a blast of pink, pale yellow, and clear bubbles cleared a path for her as she made her way up to Zakuro, so that they were moving juxtapose to each other.

"Zakuro-san? What in the world are you doing?" Ichigo screamed, her expression frantic.

"I'm putting a stop to this, once and for all." Zakuro replied, her face as unreadable as a stone.

"What do you mean?" Shouted the neko-girl.

"Kuro is killing Mint's body! And not to mention Mint herself is trapped in there. We can't wait any longer! If this goes on any longer, Mint's body will die, and... and..." Zakuro forced foreword, "I don't know if Mint is even alive! We can't just let Kuro keep using her body. We have to get rid of Kuro _now_!"

"NO!" Ichigo howled, "NO! Not if it means risking Mint's life!"

"We are risking Mint's life just by sitting here and waiting! Something has to be done Ichigo! I've made my decision. You can't stop me." Zakuro called in reply.

"But-"

"GET OUT OF MY WAY."

Ichigo felt Zakuro's body ram up against her- hard. This stunned her long enough for the barrier to let up, and Ichigo was thrown back, screaming shrilly. Suddenly, she collided with something soft and stable.

"ZAKURO! NOOOO!" Ichigo screamed, her through beginning to sting and ache. She started foreword, but strong arms held her back. The girl with the pink tresses struggled wildly, throwing her weight foreword as she screamed and screamed.

"Ichigo! Get a grip!" Ryou yelled, holding her back with much trouble.

"ITS ZAKURO! SHE'S TRYING TO KILL MINT!" Ichigo cried, louder than ever, "YOU HAVE TO LET ME GOOOOO! ZAKUROOOO! **ZAKUROOOO!**"

Her screams echoed against the night hair as Ryou held her back. But Ichigo continued to struggle, tears falling freely and loosely from her eyes like never before as she screamed as loud as she could, hoping someone would hear.

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Mint's eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Where am I?" She said, but no sound came from her lips. It merely seemed to come towards were from all around. The girl attempted to sit up, only to find her entire body was paralyzed. In front of her, like a large, white star, was a brilliant light, but behind her, was darkness, swirling and flickering with pain and suffering. She could feel deadly heat and blistering cold radiating from it. But the light up ahead had a soft of warmness and comfort to it. The closer she drifted, the less she could feel the pain of the darkness...

"Mint..." A calm voice echoed through the light. From it, came a shining silhouette, which died away into the form of a woman. Proud, navy blue eyes with bark hair floating freely around them looked down at Mint with a gentle, motherly glow.

"O... okaa-s-san...?" Mint stuttered. The woman nodded and caressed Mint's cheek.

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"Ichigo-chan! Calm down!" Ryou yelled, holding back his struggling girlfriend, "You're hurt! And you can only make it worse if you go into that energy blast!"

"I DON'T CARE! I DON'T CARE! ANYTHING BUT THAT! NOT THAT!" Ichigo howled, beginning to become hysteric.

"Isn't there any way that we can stop her?" Berry inquired in a near-yell, the tears still falling freely, eyes of deep amber wide and serious.

"I doubt it." Ryou sighed bitterly, "The only person who can stop Zakuro... is herself."

Within the center of the orb of dark energy, Kuro's head slumped foreword. Her hair, now completely white, fell over eyes which had become permanently scarlet. The girl drew in frantic breaths from in-between clenched teeth, shaking as she gripped the ground for support. Her red eyes narrowed slightly as she quickly looked up to face Zakuro looming above her.

"Heh. Come to kill me at my weakest time? Coward." Sniggered the girl, glancing away, "I would've thought that someone like you would want a good, cold, fight."

"Shut up." Said Zakuro coldly, her eyes had a sort of deadly gleam to them.

"Mint's back- if ya wanna known what made me so weak all of the sudden." The white-tressed youth said matter-of-factly, "I don't really see why you're doing this- you two seemed to be very close-"

"Liar." Zakuro hissed.

"Oh- if only you could hear her now- ringing through your head like an annoying little bell- 'Okaa-san! Okaa-san! I'm so scared! Where is Onee-sama?'." Kuro mocked in a voice identical to Mint's.

"I SAID SHUT UP."

Kuro looked downwards, hair falling over her eyes once again as an eerie grin crept onto her face.

"You're the only thing she has... and she's the only thing you have."

"Nani?" Zakuro's eyes widened slightly as Kuro glanced up through white hair, her eyes glowing bright red.

"Oh yes... I can read you like a book...every last detail... remember that last summer with your father Zakuro?" Kuro growled.

"You-!" Zakuro gasped, her eyes nearly bulging out of her head.

"You knew he had a problem, Zakuro. How he'd stagger home every night... the bottles and bottles of sake you found in the trash... the frozen cough syrup... how every morning you'd wake up and find just a little less mouthwash than the night before..." Kuro stood up, "But when you told your mother, back in England... she said it was nothing but a coincidence. You were never very close to her, were you?"

Zakuro took a step backwards.

"And it only got worse and worse." Kuro grinned maliciously, taking a step foreword, "You were always trying to talk some sense into him, yet, he always denied that he had a problem..."

Zakuro dropped to her knees.

"Oh, yes... until it got so worse, your life was at stake. Drunken rampages around the house left you with scars in the mind and heart that can never be erased... and the worse part is... he would wake up in the morning and remember nothing about it. And then you would say nothing happened and take care of him."

Zakuro shook her head, faster and faster. '_Nononononono..._' She repeated in her mind.

"You loved him, with all your heart. Just remembering those fast, summer's night car rides though the city still make your head spin. It was like two different people in one body." Kuro's smile nearly fell off of her face, her eyes seemed more like molten lava hellfire than anything else, "Ad not even he would believe you when you showed him the scars. Denial, denial, denial. And then, he simply had too much to drink-"

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"Otou-san, I'm ready to go." Zakuro walked into the living room, dressed in a black skirt with knee-length socks and a cranberry-colored sweater vest over a white blouse. Her school uniform. All her other clothing had been packed, and plus, she needed something warm to wear on that chilly flight to England.

"Otou-san? Where are you?" The young teenager craned her head around a corner and peered into the kitchen, her eyes widened and her mouth slowly dropped open. There he lay. Dark, purple hair covering his eyes. About two feet away from his opened hand was an empty bottle of Sake which had rolled under a counter.

Zakuro staggered towards him, feeling her body shake and tremble. "O-otou...'" She choked. The girl reached out to touch him, her fingered twinged as she did. Finally, Zakuro reached foreword and touched his pale face, which was icy cold.

"Otou..." She whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. "**OTOU!**"

Zakuro dropped to her knees, warm tears beginning to roll down her cheeks, "WHY? WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME? WHY?"

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"No. Please stop..." Zakuro whispered.

"Look who's at who's mercy now, eh 'Onee-sama'?" Kuro hissed coldly.

Suddenly, Zakuro's eyes flashed dangerously as the lupine girl leapt up and knocked over Kuro in an instant, towering over her, the Zakuro cross-whip high over her head.

**To be continued... **


	9. Or Not To Sin BETA

**"The Darkness Beyond"**

**By Chocolate Wolfie **

Author's Note**: _READ THIS, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT_ ** Okay, since some of you weren't pleased about chapter 8, I have almost completely re-written it. Just to let you know, I am NOT bashing Ichigo. Masaya has COMPLETELY forgotten about her, as to sending her a dopey e-mail every once in a while to make up for it, since he is too busy to take care of her. **By having Ichigo delete the squishy e-mail, she is moving on from Masaya, a HUGE plot element in my next fan fic, I'll try to make that a bit more clear...**

**As for Makaio**, it was always nice for me to have a bestust friend there. Makaio is like my Junsui-chan, with the EXACT same personality, accept for the quirky smile and immaturity, that, my friends, belongs to mah daddy. **But then again**, **I have little prepared for his introduction, and therefore I will be removing him from the story** and be replacing him with Momoka a little girl from episode 35, which Zakuro was very sweet to.

"Atashi" or "Atashi Wa" means "I" as in "Atashi wa can dance" which means "I can dance" or "Atashi like chicken" or "I like chicken" yes, I know that the translation is weird, but it works out.

For a culture note, about the bathhouse/spa/Sento; in Japan, you go to what is called a bathhouse or Sento to relax, rejuvenate, and socialize, for about the equivalent to 3 to 6 US dollars . The first step is to scrub clean, and then to wash off any soap or suds, because they don't want that in the water, because then the owners would have to drain and refill it. After that, you usually sit in the water from anywhere from 3 to 20 minutes at a time, and then you either cool off in the lounge or using some water from the scrubbing sinks and then either leave or soak in the hot water again. The reason that they're naked in the communal tubs is because Japanese people aren't as... sensitive to nudity as most Westerners. (You gotta be naked to take a bath, you gotta be naked to change your clothes, you're naked when your born, not ALL nudity is bad). So, basically, its like being in a hot sub or spa without a swimsuit. (The rooms are separated for girls and guys). If it makes you feel any better, just pretend that they're in their swimsuits.

The Sento is a very important scene. Water represents strength, purity, and healing. Keep that in mind as you read that scene.

Yet ANOTHER note: (Blahhh... so many important things for this chapter oO) Berry is helping out Ichigo more than Ringo, because she knows Ichigo better, and also because her and Ichigo's bond is based off of the bond of me and my best friend (who held my hand the entire time I was having my eyebrows tweezed today XD). We are the same age apart as Ichigo and Berry and even though we've only known each other for less than a year, its like we see eye to eye. Berry is like my friend, and I'm like Ichigo. So don't have any bad feelings towards Ringo. She's just there for moral support... and for the water XD

I AM SO SO SO SORRY about the long break in-between updates, I am graduating from Jr. High in a few days and things are getting a bit hectic in school, even though we don't have any homework, there's a lot of weird stuff happening (like the fire alarm accidentally being set off two weeks in a row) and me actually wearing makeup to school. ONCE AGAIN I am changing Pudding to Purin... stupid brain... grr... I'm sure once all of this has calmed down, I'll be back to my normal updating schedule. Arigato gozimasu!

**Chapter 8 **

**Or Not To Sin (BETA Version)**

Zakuro looked down at Kuro, and her hand tightened around the cross-whip with anger.

"RIBBON!" She cried loudly.

"NOOOOO!" Ichigo screamed loudly, tears falling from her eyes like aquarian crystals, her face bright red with exasperation.

"ZAKURO-" Zakuro's ears folded flat onto her head as she pulled back her arm, squeezing her eyes shut as the tears began to fall, "SPEA-" The young woman's voice stopped and squeaked, she drew in a frantic breath, "S-" Zakuro sobbed loudly, "RIBBON-N... nnn...nn..." Zakuro was now positively whimpering, "RIBBON! ZAKURO SPEA-" She gasped, and then looked down at Kuro, glaring at her with eyes that belonged to mint, "RIBBON! ZA- A... ata... atashi... atashi wa... can't... do it..." Zakuro dropped to her knees, facing up towards the dark sky, littered with diamonds which had once seem so mysterious, so strange, which now made all the sense in the world to her, as if they were like kaleidoscopes into another world where her life and actions were perfectly clear to her, as the dark energy receded and Kuro disappeared.

"ZAKURO!"

Ichigo ran foreword, tears slipping freely from her red, puffy eyes, she had finally struggled free of Ryou's iron grasp. The pink-tressed girl ran up to Zakuro and wildly grabbed her by the front of her corset, slapping her across the face with her free hand. Zakuro's head limply turned from the force.

(**AN**: Irony. Heh. Ichigo is reacting the same way as Mint did when she attacked the others for to save Masaya/Deep Blue, and Zakuro is reacting almost the same way as Ichigo, though she must conquer some demons first. Just a very important note. Sorry, back to the story.)

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Asked the neko-girl frantically as she shook Zakuro, "I KNOW I DID SOMETHING LIKE THIS BEFORE, BUT YOU- YOU OF ALL PEOPLE! AND TO MINT! SHE LOVES YOU!"

"Ichigo! Get a grip!" Ryou yelled, grabbing onto her bare shoulder's firmly.

"NO! NO! YOU- YOU ALMOST KILLED MINT! **KILLED** HER! HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?" Ichigo's eyes were tearful and serious, "How could you?" She whispered, dropping Zakuro as she turned away into Ryou's chest, "And to think- I've done something like that before..." She sobbed, "Its just... unforgivable... for both you and me."

Zakuro weakly looked towards the other girls. Berry and Lettuce glanced away as Pudding looked downwards, shaking her head, "Onee-san..." The smaller girl whimpered. The lupine girl's ears flattened again as she bowed her head in shame before standing up on wobbly legs and darting into the trees.

"Ichigo..." Ryou whispered, kissing Ichigo's pink head between her black ears as she sobbed, chocking back tears as she did. Ichigo's ears were flat on her head, her black tail in-between her legs in a sign of utmost distress and fear as she sobbed into his chest.

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As Zakuro dashed along the trees, she didn't know where she was going. She didn't want to follow her heart, for it had led her to dark places before; and the last place she wanted to be was the church, for she knew her heart was soiled by black blood. The only thing she had to follow were her own two feet and her lupine instincts.

Before the young woman knew it, she was detransformed, lying on cool, prickly grass which smelt faintly musty and sweet. All around her she could hear the endless chirping of frogs and crickets, serenading their precious blanket of night which had finally fallen over them.

Violet tresses fell over Zakuro's face as she blankly cried, not caring who saw her or what happened. Bitter tears rolled down her cheeks, but she could feel no emotion. She could not think, as her head hurt and her mind was blank.

"Fujiwara-san?" A soft voice inquired.

Zakuro sat up, blinking in confusion. She slowly turned her head to face a girl with deep violet tresses.

"F-fujiwara-san..." She said slowly, "What're you doing here?"

Zakuro shook her head, unable to speak.

"Its pretty late..." Said the girl, looking around with shifty eyes, "Maybe you should go home; the police said the park wasn't very safe after dark."

"Mmm..." Zakuro nodded sadly.

Suddenly, she felt a gentle cloth dabbing her eyes. Zakuro turned and faced the girl, studying her carefully.

"Have we met?" She inquired softly.

The girl sighed sadly, "I didn't think you would've remembered..." She slowly drew her hand back from Zakuro's face; the elder girl eyed the cloth in her hand.

"That's my handkerchief..." She whispered, everything suddenly clicked, "Momoka-chan?"

The girl smiled with elation, "Yatta! You remember!"

"Gomen, I didn't recognize you at first..." Zakuro sighed, "You've grown up a lot, how old are you now?"

"I'm ten." The girl smiled slightly before the frown quickly melted away, "But that's not really important... daijobu?"

"It- its nothing." Zakuro sat up and pulled her knees to her chest, Momoka sat down next to her. Zakuro, for the first time, took notice of a large, white Alaskan Malamute with a gray back attached to the girl by a blue leash. The dog wagged its curled tail and plopped down on the grass next to the elder girl, laying its head on her lap. The dog looked up to her big, blue eyes and blinked innocently.

"What's the matter, Fujiwara-san?" Momoka inquired, cocking her head, "You're the last person I would've expected to see cry..."

The violet-tressed girl shook her head sadly. "Don't worry about me; I'll be fine."

"My therapist says that its best to talk about it." The younger girl said softly, "Okaa-san and Otou-san got me a therapist after that weird boy tried to rob me. They were starting to get worried about me running off, and they also got me Yukio-chan, because then I can always have a friend."

The girl reached out and stroked the dog's head; its curled tail thumped on the ground in happiness.

"So do you wanna talk about it?" Momoka asked, turning her attention back to Zakuro.

Zakuro sighed in defeat, "Have you ever seen Tokyo Mew Mew?"

"Oh, yeah! A bunch of times! Like the time I got robbed, a cool one that looked like you saved me! At first I thought it had been a dream, but then I saw their pictures on TV!" She nodded happily, her eyes shining.

"Well, I..." Zakuro broke off, staring away.

"Are you really the cool one?" Momoka asked, Zakuro jumped and stared at the girl with wide eyes. Momoka looked worried and serious.

"How-?"

"Its not hard to tell. You look exactly the same, 'cept for the ears." The girl reached over and stroked one of Yukio's ears to make her point.

With a heavy sigh, Zakuro told the story of how Mint was being used by Kuro, and how Mint may have already been dead or was dying, and what she had done...

"You probably hate me now..." Zakuro said with a wry smile.

"No." Momoka shook her head and placed her hand on Zakuro's lap, "I would've tried the same time, have I been in your situation."

"Arigato, Momoka-chan." Zakuro grinned as she pulled the girl into a one-armed hug, "You're very wise of a girl so young."

"Mm!" Momoka nodded with a bright smile, "Thanks!"

Suddenly. Yukio's ears perked up and he began to bark, his tail wagging rapidly, he barked several more times as a figure approached.

"Momoka-chan!" A familiar voice floated over, "What're you doing here so late?"

"Aneko-sensei!" Momoka called cheerfully, standing up, "I was taking Yukio for a walk and I ran into my friend, Fujuwara-nee-san!"

"Fujiwara?" Aneko approached. she was dressed in a black tank-top with a pair of matching shorts and walking shoes, she glanced worriedly at Zakuro, her single eye teeming with slight fear and sadness.

"Fujiwara-nee-san! This is my therapist, Aneko-sensei. She works at the hospital." Said the youth brightly.

"We've met." Zakuro pushed herself off of the ground.

"Momoka-chan, its getting late. You should go home." Aneko said, still staring at Zakuro.

"Oh." Said Momoka sadly, looking to her toes, "Then I'll so you later, then. Ja ne, Aneko-sensei, Fujiwara-nee-chan."

"Ja." The two others said in unison as the girl trotted off; once she was out of earshot, Zakuro looked to Aneko.

"You don't have to worry." She said softly before glancing away, "I didn't have the heart to do it."

Aneko gave a tremendous sigh of relief, placing her hand over her heart, and then smiled, "I knew you'd come to your senses"

"I did, too." Zakuro gazed up to the sky, "I just didn't realize it at the time."

Aneko nodded and once more, glanced up with her.

"Momoka-chan."

"Hmm?" Aneko looked to Zakuro.

"She said you're her therapist. But you work at the hospital..." The violet-tressed woman's brow knitted in worry.

"Momoka-chan has a disorder where she occasionally will have seizures at random, but she eventually grew out of it." Aneko replied.

"I see..." Zakuro whispered, turning her attention back to the stars, as bright and clear as ever.

(**AN**: A bit of foreshadowing for my next fic here... Momoka will have an important role)

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Ichigo sighed and collapsed in the chair before her computer. She had to call and thank her grandma for filling up the answering machine, this caused Ichigo to have a wonderful excuse for why her message didn't get to her parents.

"Lesse, I haven't checked my e-mail in forever..." Sighed the girl with the red tresses as she pulled up her e-mail and began to delete junk mail. And then she saw it.

"Subject: Missing You Even More" Ichigo nervously clicked on the e-mail.

_To: IchigoNeko _

_From: BlueSamurai205_

_Subject: Missing You Even More_

_Ichigo,_

_Hey my kitty cat:-) England is wonderful, and school is a drag. Nothing is the same without you here with me. _

_Masaya_

Ichigo bowed her head, blinking tears from her eyes. "If only you knew..." She whispered, and hit the **Reply** button.

_To: BlueSamurai205_

_From: IchigoNeko _

_Subject: Re: Missing You Even More_

_Dear Masaya,_

_I was wondering if you could start to e-mail me a little more. It really hurts my feelings when you ignore me so much and it hurts them even more when you barely write anything. Maybe this isn't working out. _

_Ichigo_

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"Ichigo?" Sakura Momoiya said softly as she walked into the room. She didn't expect Ichigo to start to catch up on missed sleep to quickly. As she walked in, she found Ichigo curled up in bed, wearing her pink pajama bottoms with vertical red stripes on them with a matching red tank top, sniffling into her pillow. "Ichigo-aka-chan, daijobu deska?" She inquired as she sat down on her daughter's bed.

"Mama!" Sobbed the girl as she threw her arms around her mother, bawling into her breast.

"Shh... daijobu Ichigo. Mama's got you... shh..." Sakura said as she soothingly rocked her daughter back and forth. She let Ichigo sit there and cry into her for the next ten minutes or so before the girl lifted her tearstained face and quietly thanked her mother as she wiped away her tears.

"What's the matter Aka-chan? You know that you can tell me." Said the woman softly, pushing Ichigo's red bangs out of her tearful, grayish brown eyes.

"Mama, I'm going out with Ryou..." Ichigo sniffled.

"Oh, I see. So you had to break up with Masaya-kun?" She nodded in understandment, "Its hard to break up with an old boyfriend."

Ichigo sniffed and nodded, "It... it... he..." She hicced and drew in a shuddering breath, "I missed having a boyfriend so much, he was always away from me. He... he... he almost never sent me e-mails more than three sentences long, and I haven't had a phone call from him in about a month..."

"Then maybe he has no right of calling you his girlfriend." Sighed the woman, "I know he cares for you, but you need to understand, sweetie, most long-distance relationships don't work out very well. And sometimes you just have to date around! Your father and I broke up several times through Highschool and Middle School, and we found that there was nobody better for us than each other. He can't just go and call you his while he's left you all alone."

Ichigo nodded again, but still didn't feel much better, "And- and... and I'm really worried about Zakuro and Mint. Zakuro... she did some pretty stupid stuff and Mint... we haven't found her, but I'm so afraid..."

"Is Zakuro okay?" Her mother inquired.

"Physically." Ichigo nodded.

"Well, as long as Zakuro is okay, try not to worry about it. I'm sure that Mint-chan will be fine, too, ne?" Sakura smiled.

"Right." Sniffed Ichigo.

"I love you, my Aka-chan." Ichigo's mother smiled softly as she kissed her daughter's forehead.

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Ichigo sighed as she felt the warm water roll down her back. It was definitely not the time to be at the Sento... but her mother said that it would help to relieve stress at this time, and plus she had offered to pay for it... so why not take the chance? Quietly, she stood from her stool and grabbed a soft, white towel, leaving the small scrubbing stall and heading for the tubs. The walls were covered in light red tile, while the rectangular baths themselves were tiled in the palest of green. On the wall the tubs were built below, a large landscape of a picturesque cove was painted. The room was filled with the happy chatting and laughter of women of all ages.

"Took ya long enough." Berry giggled from one of the tubs. Her blonde had taken her hair and wrapped it up in a white tower, tied at the front.

"You do know cats love to be clean." Ringo smiled back as she squirted water at Berry by squeezing her hands.

"Gomen." Ichigo sighed as she set down the towel and lowered herself into the tub. The three girls let out a large, unified sigh.

"Oh Ichi-chan, don't feel so bad." Berry reached over and touched her best friend's shoulder lightly.

"You really took it hard." Ringo commented mournfully, "I saw everything through Masha..."

Ichigo nodded solemnly and leaned back, letting her wet, red hair flow over the side of the tub, the cool touch of the tile felt relaxing as she took a deep breath, "I can't understand why Zakuro would try to do such a thing... but at the same time, I know I did it when the others tried to attack Masaya-kun..." Ichigo winced at the name, "And now... now... I have somebody else." Ichigo sat up and stared at her reflection in the water tinted blue with oil. She angrily batted at her reflection turning away as the tears began to come again. "I feel terrible..."

"Don't say that... we're all confused from time to time..." Berry soothed, "I- I feel horrible about Kuro. I just wonder what drove her to warp her own mind... she brought it upon herself."

"Just like I did with my problems." Ichigo sniffled as she pulled her knees to her chest. Berry and Ringo glanced to each other. They knew Ichigo was right, but not entirely.

"Oh, Ichigo." Sighed the tow head, "Don't feel bad. You didn't... _really _bring it upon yourself. Its Masaya-kun's fault, too." She winced, expecting a blow-up from Ichigo. Instead, the redhead merely sat there, peering into her thoughts with eyes of misted brown. Suddenly, she closed her eyes.

"You're right." She groaned, shaking her head slightly, "I can't go and blame myself for going to Ryou. He was always there for me, all along, and Masaya-kun wasn't." Ichigo opened her eyes; they seemed to have changed, as if they had gained a layer of confidence, "I can't _and_ I won't. He left me. And I just can't go and blame myself for his mistakes."

Berry smiled proudly and squeezed Ichigo's arm with support, "See? Better already."

"But that still doesn't make up for how much of a bitch I was to everyone when I was trying to protect Masaya-kun..." Winced the girl, "And I just have to make up for that on my own. I've been forgiven, so that's what I need to do."

"But we also need to find Zakuro-nee-san and Mint-nee-chan." Ringo pointed out.

"Don't worry." Ichigo sighed, relaxing into the water, "Zakuro will come back, in time..."

"But-" Ringo whimpered.

"Worry about the feature when it comes. Right now, let's just focus on the present." The blonde suggested airily.

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Kuro screamed loudly and heaved another chair across the room, when it merely ran up against the wall, she stormed over, seized it by the legs, and proceeded to slam it against the wall, causing the wood to splinter.

Panting hard, the girl sunk to her knees and pushed back her stark-white hair, which was drenched with sweat. She had achieved her goal of becoming the strongest se could, but at the same time, she knew Mint was awake. This had happened... at the worst possible time.

Picking up an old vase, Kuro tossed it towards the chair; it shattered on the wall and fell into hundreds of pieces.

But it had just been for an instant. What had caused her to awaken so suddenly and then fall back into semi-dormancy? It was SO frustrating!

Furiously, the girl stood and grabbed a hold of a table and flipped it over with all her might, before collapsing once more her face buried into her arms.

Why was she _so weak_?

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Akasaka's fingers were sore. He leaned back on his chair and stretched out. The brunette had been typing since he had gotten up in the morning, since the strange barrier protecting the odd force Kuro was radiating had weakened. Akasaka finished his little break and returned to the computer.

"Aha." He said softly, "Its a special DNA code she's radiating... if I can just trace it..."

He hit a few buttons and a small screen popped up, a three-dimensional image of a strand of DNA twisting on the screen as strange words 3appeared above "Scanning" "Scanning." "Scanning.." "Scanning..." and then "Scan Complete"

Akasaka stared at the results, his eyes gradually began to widen.

"Ryou... I think you need to take a look at this."

**To Be Concluded... **


	10. Tears Of The Angels

**"The Darkness Beyond"**

**By Chocolate Wolfie **

Author's Note**: IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE NEW, _BETA_ VERSION OF THE LAST CHAPTER, PLEASE GO BACK AND DO SO. **I've made a few adjustments to it based on suggestions by reviewers.

This is by far one of the most emotional things I've ever written. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.

Wow! I Can't believe this fic is almost over! I started it right before spring break and it has taken a long while to finish. I'm really happy all you have enjoyed this fic, and I hope you keep reading my TMM fics, **I'm going to be writing a sequel to this one**, and there is a little prologue to it at the end of this chapter ;) Thank you all so very much for being great reviewers! I hope to see your reviews in my next fic!

I know it is very unprofessional to keep changing this... but... my tiny brain can't seem to handle the fact Pudding has two different names... so back to Pudding it is. TT

**Chapter 10**

**Tears Of The Angels **

_Golden Lights Cast Angelic Shadows, Which Fade Away With Misery And Die Within My Heart..._

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"What is it?" Ryou asked, hovering over Akasaka's shoulder, suddenly, his icy azure eyes widened, his mouth slowly dropping open.

"What...? This... it makes no sense... how?" The blonde whispered, blinking and shaking his head.

"Should we tell the girls?" Akasaka asked, glancing upwards towards Ryou.

The other boy nodded, looking serious, "I think... we should."

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_The Darkness Envelops Me. It Belongs To Me. I Belong To It. We Are Each Other. I Am The Darkness, And The Darkness Is Me. _

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The girls were all silent as they waited in front of Cafe Mew Mew. What had happened to make Ryou so urgently call them there? Was it Zakuro? Was it Kuro? Was it Mint? The tension in the air was so thick that you would have to cut it with a knife. In the distance, the sound of rolling thunder echoed throughout the area, signaling an oncoming storm. The warm damp summer air had been replaced by a dank, cold fog.

Lettuce tightened her coat around her, her eyes teeming with worry. '_I know that we've dealt with worse things before... and yet... nothing like this has ever happened...'_

Berry drew her hands to her chest and closed her eyes, '_I swear that I will see that girl know the truth..._'

Ichigo closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Everything is different now." She uttered aloud.

Pudding abruptly burst into tears, throwing her arms around Lettuce. "Pudding..." Lettuce sighed, putting her arms around the girl.

"I can't stand it, na no da!" The tow-head sobbed, taking in shaky breaths, "How could she do that? How could Zakuro-nee-san try that! She meant well... but... but... I CAN'T STAND TO THINK ABOUT IT! IT MAKES ME SIIIIICK!"

Ichigo went over and wrapped her arms around her younger friend. Pudding turned to her and burred her face into her arms.

"I THOUGHT ABOUT MINT DEAD! I SAW WHAT ZAKURO COULD'VE DONE TO HER IN MY MIND! I HAD DREAMS ABOUT IT! I DREAMT SHE KILLED MINT, AND THEN YOU, AND LETTUCE, BERRY, RINGO, AND THEN-"

"And then I stabbed your eye out, correct?"

"AND THEN YOU STABBED MY EYE OUT!" Suddenly, Pudding gasped, her brown eyes widening in shock. She whipped around, out of Ichigo's arms, and looked to Zakuro, who stood several yards away, like a breathing statue in brilliant color.

The two stood in complete silence, their expressions unreadable, a gentle wind rustled Zakuro's semi-trench coat and the deep blue scarf pudding wore around her neck. Zakuro then looked down to her feet and whispered, "Gomen nasai.", violet tresses hanging around her head, bent in shame.

Suddenly, she felt a heavy weight hit her around the knees, Zakuro raised her head slightly to look pudding in the face. The youth looked up to her with tear streaked cheeks, her jaw trembling.

"And then at the end of my dream... you killed yourself... that was... that was one of the saddest p-parts." She

The elder girl dropped to her knees; eyes of sapphire wide with disbelief, pity, and shock.

"Even... even after what I did- what I _almost_ did..." She shook her head slowly, staring straight foreword.

"We love you, Zakuro-san." Ichigo said gently, Zakuro looked up to the redhead, who smiled at her softly with misty brown eyes, "And that will never ever change, no matter what you do."

Zakuro closed her eyes and sighed; as she did, a single, diamond tear slid town her cheek in relief.

"I... I don't know what to say..." She whispered, her voice trembling ever so slightly.

"Don't say anything." Berry smiled gently as she knelt next to Zakuro and Pudding, "All we need is to see you back here, with us."

"Zakuro." Ryou's voice floated over to the scene, "Yukata, yukata you're back."

Zakuro nodded, wiping away the single tear and stood up; Pudding still clinging to her waist like a live accessory.

"Ryou-kun... what is it?" Ichigo inquired, approaching him with slight fear in her eyes.

"Its about Mint and Kuro." Ryou said, turning around, "Something strange has happened..."

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_What I Am Is What I Am. And I Am Me. So Am I Me, Or Am I Darkness?_

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"Kuro is a Mew Mew." Was the first thing out of Akasaka's mouth as soon as the girls came into the lab.

"What?" Ichigo gasped, "What do you mean by that? Do you mean when she took over Mint's body-?"

"No." Ryou said, with a shake of his head, "When Kuro possessed Mint's body; Mint's animal genes changed from Ultramarine Lorikeet to Mariana Fruit Bat."

"But where- how would she get the DNA? And how would she become infused with it?" Berry inquired.

"We don't know. It just seemed to happen when they merged." Ryou sighed, shaking his head.

"Is that why..." Zakuro whispered; all heads turned to her as she narrowed her eyes in concentration and brought a finger up to her chin, "Why Kuro needed Mint? A Mew Mew?"

"And it seems that she was able to be manipulated because of her past..." Lettuce pointed out, "And that past..."

"Was probably caused by Kuro in the first place, no da!" Pudding gasped in conclusion.

"But there's one problem with that theory." Akasaka pointed out, "How would Kuro know Mint would grow up to be a mew mew all those years ago."

There was a long pause as the girls pondered that thought.

"The book..." Lettuce whispered, "It _must_ have something to do with this..."

"That's all we can assume at the time being..." Akasaka sighed, pushing back brunette bangs with a single hand.

"But what happens now?" Ichigo inquired gently shaking her head in frustration, "Do we have to wait? Do we have to go?"

The room was held in a stiff, unbreakable silence as everyone seemed to glance around to one another. The truth was, nobody knew. How hard they had argued with themselves and turned their minds upside down trying to find an answer; the only conclusion was to sit and wait it out.

And then it came, in the form of a crackly sound coming from the Police radio Akasaka and Ryou kept around.

"All forces report to Odori Galleria Mall immediately; mass assault on unknown forces to be initiated at 5:30 PM. I repeat: All forces report to Odori Galleria Mall immediately; mass assault on unknown forces to be initiated at 5:30 PM." A female voice crackled from the ebony box.

"Should we?" Berry piped up, looking to Ryou for guidance.

"Its the best lead we have." Sighed the elder blond with a nod, "Tokyo Mew Mew! GO!"

With a unified nod, the girls took off for the stairs. Ichigo went to follow suit, but Ryou grabbed her hand.

"Be careful, Ichigo." He said gently. Ichigo turned to face him and her heart skipped a beat. His ice blue eyes were teeming with worry and compassion for her. Ichigo smiled softly and took his hand, pressing it to her chest.

"Ryou. I love you." She uttered softly, a light blush creeping onto her cheeks. Ryou wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead with soft, warm lips.

"I love you, too." He nodded. Felling something soft brush against his cheeks, Ryou opened his eyes slightly and reached out to stoke one of Ichigo's black neko ears.

"Ichigo! We gotta hurry!" Berry called from the top of the steps.

"Coming!" The red-head called back, "I'll be careful, I promise." She said to Ryou, before quickly kissing his cheek and running up the stairs.

"Good." Ryou sighed to himself once the girl was gone, "Because if anything every happened to you; I don't know if I could live with myself."

"Ryou."

The blonde turned his head and looked to Akasaka, who gave his shoulder a supporting squeeze, a smile on his handsomely pale face, "She'll be fine. She's Mew Ichigo."

Ryou nodded solemnly, "Now. Let's get this new project underway. Speaking of; where's Ringo?"

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_If Darkness Is Me... Then I Am Not Me... Because I Am Only Myself..._

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"Do you want to be free?" Hissed a gothicly-dressed girl with a lock of dirty-blonde hair falling over her emotionless eyes as she gripped the neck of a young teenage girl, who screamed, sputtered and kicked as she dangled above the floor, "Join Kuro-sama, and you will be free of this and your oppressing life."

"NO! I won't!" Gasped the girl, the hand of Kuro's minion tightened around the innocent teen's throat.

"Then, _die_!" Spat the minion, her eyes flaring red as the girl made a gruesome choking sound.

"Oh no you _don't_!" In a blur of white and blonde, Mew Berry leapt up in front of the minion in a revolving jump, as she did, the was a sick _crack _as her foot collided with the minion-girls head. In the moment she was stunned; the teenage girl was dropped to the ground and instantly began gasping for breath.

"It seems physical attacks are the only way to get them." Mew Zakuro assessed, "Even if it only stuns them for a moment."

"Daijobu?" Mew Lettuce inquired worriedly as she dropped down next to the teenage girl, her ribbons of pale flesh falling over wide, emerald eyes. The girl nodded before shakily standing up, "Good, now lets get you out of here." Lettuce took the girl by the hand as they ran down the hallway towards the exit.

"RIBBON STRAWBERRY CHECK!" The mall was immersed in a bright flash of pink as Ichigo frightened away several minions that had been cornering a group of girls. As the Pink Mew rushed them towards Lettuce, who was waiting to escort them out, a familiar voice gushed from beside her:

"Wuah! Its really Mew Ichigo! I never thought I'd see you up close!"

Ichigo turned her head to see a blonde girl running behind her, stars in her brown eyes.

"Moe?" Ichigo uttered quietly.

"You were always my favorite Mew Mew!" Moe squealed as she was passed off to Lettuce.

"Arigato!" Cried Ichigo over her shoulder as she ran off, the Strawberry Bell at ready, in case of a surprise attack, "Irony..." She muttered to herself.

Meanwhile, Pudding seemed to have regained her usual bounce as she sprang from the floor in an Arial back flip and landed on the rim of a planter box on the second floor, "Catch me, na no da!" She cried as a youth in once of the fluttering black dresses shot from the ground below her like a speeding bullet, Pudding leapt up over her with her usual agility and proceeded to use both legs to kick her in the back of the head, adding on as a boost to make it to a metal podium on which vines were creeping up. The monky-ish girl clung to a vine and leaned out, sticking her tongue out in triumph.

"Where's Kuro?" Zakuro yelled as she approached another one of the girls. Using her cross-whip, she hit the girl upside the head; twirling around, she seized a youthful girl from a corner where she had been hiding and sprang from the ground, ricocheting off of a wall, and flipping over in mid-air, landing on the railing that separated the middle of the mall from ground-level and setting the girl down behind her, diving back into battle as the minion, with a blood soaked face, came charging at her. Zakuro hit her in the face with a fierce punch and grabbed her face, using it to turn around her and kick her in the back, sending her flying to the ground.

"I thought I saw one come out here..." Ichigo mused to herself as she stepped into an open-air courtyard located in the center of the mall. Around her, fog had settled around her legs, about a foot thick. In the navel of the courtyard rested a large statue of a girl dressed in a Kimono, holding a small leaf in her hand. Benches and entrances to larger stores branching off of the mall, as well as abandoned food carts and planter boxes full of dreary, dying plants.

Suddenly, Ichigo's ear twitched back as she heard something lightly touch the ground behind her.

But it was too late.

Ichigo was seized from behind by strong hands that contorted around her arms in an inhuman way, raising her up off of the ground.

"Well what do we have here?" A drawling voice as as Kuro seemed to lift up from the fog. Two bat-like wings reached behind her as she stood there, nearly unrecognizable with her now snow-white hair and scarlet eyes. Over her hair was a sort of black wrap, which went perfectly with the midevil-esque coat she wore, with puffed sleeves that trailed down to white ruffles, and a waistcoat that fluttered next to her ankles which was set over a white chemise with black ribbons criss-crossing over it, "It seems the little koneko is scaring away my followers."

"Kuro! You don't have to do this!" Ichigo screamed as she attempted to struggle away from the strange girls. She was beginning to feel sick, for she had just realized that their skin was cold, clammy and giving off a horrible stench...

"But I won't tolerate that kind of behavior..." Kuro grinned, a sick look sparking in her eyes... like pools of blood under a dying sun... "Lucky for you, I need a new vessel."

"No!" Ichigo gasped, her pink eyes widening in shock and horror.

"Oh, yes, Ichigo." Kuro's eyes misted sickly as she leaned foreword, "You forget how I can see into people's feelings and pasts. How easily I can manipulate them. I started plotting the moment I saw you and the koinu."

Ichigo winced and attempted to struggle; Kuro's lackeys only tightened their grip on her. Kuro laughed coldly, her voice a gust of cold wind in Ichigo's face.

"When I realized what Zakuro was doing; I knew I had the perfect chance to break you, to bring you down." Growled the girl, "Remember what you did, Ichigo? How easily you broke all bonds with the girls, just to protect him? And how you almost killed them? And in the end... you don't even love him at all."

Ichigo shook her head violently, "NO! That was in the past!"

"Its too late, Ichigo." Kuro said darkly, "The past had happened _and there's nothing you can do to take it bac_k!"

And a deadly strike, Kuro latched onto Ichigo's throat as the ebony began to twist around her. Ichigo thrashed and screamed as she felt herself become tainted by the darkness. Kuro smiled triumphantly, dying away with the darkness that obscured Ichigo's vision...

"RIBBON! APPLE POP!" A small voice cried from somewhere beyond.

Ichigo jumped as what seemed to be brilliant fireworks of bright red and green explode around her, draining away the darkness. She felt the arms of Kuro's minions loosen around her as she dropped to the ground. Glancing to her side, she spotted a pair of red schoolgirl shoes against stark white socks.

"Mew Ringo!" Ichigo gasped happily as the red mew mew moved in front of her in a defensive position. The girl was dressed in a red corset, flowing out to the sides with large tails fanning out behind her in the end, accompanied by a pair of white pantaloons and white gloves. Her head was topped with an enormous, red bow, and in each of her white-gloved hangs she held a red maraca tipped with an apple.

"I've got your back, Ichigo-Onee-chan!" Mew Ringo cried.

"What's going-?" Came an exasperated cry.

"Zakuro!" Ichigo cried as the lupine girl ran towards them, flocked by Lettuce, Pudding, and Berry.

Zakuro stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth curled into an unmistakable snarl.

"Kuro-san!" Pudding yelled loudly.

Ichigo suddenly recalled the girl's presence and turned her head towards her.

Kuro seemed to have recoiled into her own body, grasping at her chest. Her face was obscured by white bangs and her feet were pigeon-toed. "I see... how this is going to be..." She hissed, looking up with eyes that glowed like hellfire.

"I WILL KILL YOU ALL! ONCE AND FOR ALL!" She raised a single hand up into the air as it burst into flames. The flames quickly died away, and in there place was a bow made of ebony wood. She aimed it towards the girls, her eyes vivid, "I'll see you in hell."

As she stretched back the bowstring, Ichigo felt a sense of foreboding run through her body. "RUN!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. The girls took off as Kuro unleashed the attack. Where an arrow would've been, a soaring flame seemed to appear. As it hit the ground, flames rose everywhere in the courtyard.

Ichigo screamed in pain and terror as the flames swirled around her, they did not hurt her physically, though they did, in a way. Dark memories of the past that had bothered her for her entire life seemed to come up into her mind at random. Things as a grade school child she regretted doing in class, the time she had tripped and broken her arm as a child, a huge fight with frightening cuss-words her parents had had when she was seven, the time her mother slapped her, when her father had yelled at her to stay in bed in the voice that still horrified her to that day. And the entire time, the stress in her body seemed to increase. Every muscle in her body ached, her eyes burned, her lungs felt deprived of oxygen, and her stomach hurt with both a slow ache and sharp pain all at once...

And then it was over. She fell to the ground limply, staring with hollow eyes at all the other girls across the courtyard, each looking shocked and sick.

"Ma...ma..." Pudding said in a tiny voice.

Ichigo winced as she felt somebody step on her chest. She looked up to Kuro, who smiled grimly and cocked her head at her before leaning down and whispering in Ichigo's ear. In a way that tickled it and sent chills down her spine.

"Now you know how I felt."

Suddenly, Kuro sprang backwards, into the air, taking her ebony bow in hand and looking down with merciless eyes onto Ichigo as she began to stretch the string back.

"IMOUTO-CHAN! MA'TE!" A familiar voice screamed, Zakuro's ears perked up as she turned her head slightly.

Aneko ran, exhausted, into the courtyard, her hands on her knees had she panted hard. The woman had obviously had to fight to get through the police line, but had not been apprehended.

Kuro stared, taken aback. "Why... why would you call me that, woman?"

"Imouto-chan! Its me, Aneko." The woman said softly, looking up.

Kuro's eyes widened as she recognized the woman as an older version of her sister. "You..."

"Kuro! Onigai! Don't take another life!" Aneko begged. Kuro blinked and gritted her teeth in anger.

"AND WHY SHOULDN'T I, YOU SELFISH, OLD BITCH?" Spat the girl, taking aim at her sister.

"IMOUTO-CHAN! THEY LOVED YOU!" Aneko retorted, the tears coming freely, "AND I LOVE YOU! As soon as I heard something was going on here, I came I soon as I could, and I fought with all my might, just to tell you that Imouto-chan!" Aneko shook her head sadly, "Okaa-san and Otou-san were always so proud of you, Kuro-imouto-chan... I was even envious of you. You were always so beautiful and placid, and you had such a magnificent voice."

"You... were jealous of me?" Kuro whispered.

"Yes. So much I worked so hard at what I was good at just so I wouldn't fall behind you, Imotou-chan." Aneko nodded, "Otou-san and Okaa-san always wanted to give you the right tools in life. They were so worried when you started to act strange... they just wanted to help you... I just wanted you help you... I'm so sorry..."

"You're...?" Kuro gasped as she landed on the ground and sank to her knees, "S-sorry?"

"Yes! I'm sorry! I was a bad sister, Kuro-chan! I made you feel pressed to live up to me! And I made you feel like you had to live up to Okaa-san and Otou-san! I was a bad sister!" Aneko sobbed, burying her face in her hands.

"Onee-san." Aneko looked up to Kuro, and found that the red eyes were gone. They hellfire washed away by a slate-gray ocean of calm, "You think that you were a bad sister?"

"Yes..." Aneko nodded, ashamed.

"No..." Kuro shook her head, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks as well, "Don't ever think that, Onee-san."

Ichigo began to stand... was the pain really starting to go away?

"If anything, _I_ was the bad sister." Kuro sighed, "I was always so mean to everyone when they were only trying to help."

"Kuro..." Lettuce whispered, sitting up.

"And, just because of that..." Kuro blinked twice and began to shake, "Oh, god... oh, god, NO!" She screamed, throwing herself into Aneko's arms, "I-I-I KILLED Okaa-san and Otou-san! I TRIED TO KILL YOU, TOO, ONEE-SAN! OH GOD! AND I KILLED SO MANY INNOCENT- NO!" Kuro pulled herself free of Aneko and slammed her body to the stone ground, "NO! NO! HOW COULD I DO THAT! HOW COULD I! WHAT HAVE I DONE?"

"She's starting to see..." Berry uttered gently.

"ONEE-SAN! HOW COULD YOU EVER THINK SOMETHING LIKE THAT? I TRIED TO KILL YOU, AND ALL YOU EVER WERE WAS GOOD TO ME! I'M NOTHING BUT A MURDERER AND A SINNER!" She sobbed.

"I think its time." Zakuro said to Ichigo, who nodded in agreement.

"Strawberry Bell!" Ichigo cried, raising the pink bell above her head. The other mews shakily got to their feet, ready to combine their powers.

"Lettuce Castanets!"

"Pudding Ring!"

"Zakuro Cross-Whip!"

"Ringo Maracas!"

"Berry Rod!"

Ichigo closed her eyes as she felt the powers being added,

'_The gentle kindness of the castanets..._

_The cheer and hope of the ring..._

_The divine punishment of the cross-whip..._

_The innocent, healing purity of the maracas..._

_The honesty of the rod..._

_And the love and commitment of the bell!_'

"STRAWBERRY BELL BELL! VERSION UP!"

Two large circles surrounded Ichigo, who glowed in a bright, pink light.

"RIBBON! STRAWBERRY TRUFFLE!"

A pale pink mist seemed to float everywhere, clear bubbles, tinted rainbow by the fading light danced everywhere as Aneko picked Kuro up and held her to her chest.

"I- I'm sorry." Kuro whispered.

"I forgive you." Aneko cooed back, kissing her little sister's head.

"I want to see Okaa-san..." Kuro whimpered.

"You will." Aneko smiled softly.

"But-" Kuro argued.

"Our god is kind and forgiving. It may be hard, but you'll get there; in time." Aneko closed her eyes.

"I'll try as hard as I can." Kuro nodded, "I swear it."

"Thank you." Aneko paused, "Imouto-chan."

"You're welcome." Kuro nodded, "Goodbye, Onee-chan."

"Goodbye." Aneko whispered as Kuro faded away into the pink mist.

Mint slowly sunk into Aneko's arms as warm tears rolled down the woman's cheeks.

"MINT!" Zakuro yelled, running to the girl's side as she limply fell into her arms, "I can hear her heart..." She sobbed, squeezing the girl to her chest, "Imouto-chan..."

"Mint-onee-chan!" Pudding and Ringo cried in unison.

"Mint-san!" Lettuce called, white flesh trailing behind her.

"Mint! MIIIIINT!" Berry screamed as she threw herself next to the girl.

"Mint..." Ichigo whispered happily, her pink cheeks laden with tears.

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_And The Tears Of The Angels Fall Onto My Heart, And I Know Who I Am_

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"Okaa-san." Mint uttered. "I don't want to go back there."

"Why not?" Mint's mother asked gently.

"Because, I'm all alone, Okaa-san. I don't have you." Mint said gently.

"But you have many friends. If come there, they will be sad." The woman held her daughter to her breast, "And you have somebody just as good."

"Who?" Mint inquired.

"Do I have to guess?" Her mother said lightly, her lips brushing her daughter's forehead.

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"Okaa-san..."

"Mint?" Zakuro leapt to attention, "Mint, what did you say?"

Everybody leaned foreword.

"Zakuro..." Mint muttered, "Zakuro-okaa-san..."

Zakuro's eyes widened, "Mint-chan..." She whispered, holding the girl tighter, "Okaa-san is here."

"Okaa-san." A small smile appeared on her face, "Arigato."

Ichigo glanced up as she felt something cold hit her head. One by one, beads of cold rain fell onto her face, mixing with tears and rolling off of her cheeks.

"Its raining." Ringo commented lightly.

"Its- its a good thing." Berry cried, "When I was little... Mama always said that rain was the tears of the angels."

"The tears of the angels..." Ichigo whispered to herself, drawing her gloved hands to her mouth in awe.

"We are blessed." Zakuro looked to the sky, tears rolled down her cheeks as she did, "We all are."

_**The End...**_

**Or is it?**

A lone figure clothed in white stood in the swirling snow. Across from it was another figure in black.

The white figure drew its hand up to its chest, its fingers caressing an opal stone of a thin, silver chain.

"You will be mine." The black figure said in a masculine voice, accompanied with a sickening grin.

The white figure spun around, white robes falling around its ankles. Clutched in its hand was a sword forged of ebony metal.

The white figure sprung into action, "You will leave this place immediately!" It spoke in a feminine, authoritive voice.

"You wish to oppose?" The man in black growled, "So be it!"

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Momoka chocked and sputtered, spittle rolling down the side of her cheek as her eyes rolled into her head. Above her loomed a dark figure. "Sleep well, little guardian." It leered.


End file.
